What If Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?
by Stoney
Summary: It's a question I've wondered about ever since I discovered who Metal Sonic (a.k.a. Mecha) was. What if Mecha's mind got stuck in Sonic's body and Sonic's mind got stuck in Mecha's? This story explores the possibilities. Welcome to the What If Zone...
1. Chapter 1 Encounter

What If.Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?  
  
A fanfiction by Stoney  
  
BORING LEGAL STUFF: Sonic the hedgehog and all related persons/places are copyright SEGA, DiC Productions, and so on, blah, blah, blah, yakety- smackety, yadda yadda, et cetera. I dare any respectable lawyer to actually get up enough courage to try READING these stupid disclaimers! No, seriously!  
  
Chapter I Encounter  
  
  
  
"You're kidding." Sonic stared in shock, mouth slightly agape.  
  
The young buck shook his head rapidly. He looked as if he had been running at high speed for a long time. Light from the late morning sun slanted through the trees and sparkled on the sweat dripping past his long curved antlers and down his face. His chest heaved slightly with each breath. "No, I'm not." He gasped. "I could see the explosions from my post. Something bad is definitely going on near Knothole, Sonic."  
  
"Thanks for the info!" Sonic said, alarmed. "I'll take care of it. You should get back to your post!" With that, he was gone, a tiny dust cloud marking his trail into the woods. The buck ran off in a different direction, towards one of Knothole's guard towers.  
  
Sonic pushed himself to go faster. Beneath him, his pounding feet blurred into an indistinct red mass. Trees, bushes, and all manner of forest life sped by him at speeds that made them unrecognizable. The wind whipped about him, blowing his spines back and flattening his ears against his head. Inside his brain, his thoughts were speeding along just as fast. Knothole! His home, not to mention that of his friends, and one of the core bases of the Freedom Fighters. If something happened to it-  
  
He slammed his mental doors shut before that thought could proceed further.  
  
He began pumping his arms to the rhythm of his feet, increasing his speed slightly. Nothing would happen, he mentally scolded himself. He'd arrive, take care of the problem and everything would be cool again. Things would be fine. His doubt wasn't convinced, though, and continued to gnaw at the back of his mind like an irritating itch that he couldn't reach.  
  
There! He spotted the familiar wooden stump that served as the hidden entrance to Knothole. Screeching to a halt and leaving twin skid-marks on the ground, he jogged over to a nearby tree and pulled a vine that was hung loosely around its branches. The top of the stump swung upward silently, revealing a cylindrical hollowed-out tube inside. This was the Great Oak Slide, one of the main routes to Knothole and the one he was about to use. With a small jump, he fell feet-first into the tube, whose top closed after him automatically.  
  
Down, down, down, around a couple curves, through a long straight stretch, past a steep spiral, around another curve. The slide twisted and turned like a coiled rattlesnake, travelling through a wide underground tunnel which sloped down into the ground. It was black as pitch inside, but Sonic knew the entire route by heart. For extra protection, he tucked his arms and knees to his chest and curled up into a spiny blue ball, keeping his face and limbs safe. This allowed him to roll down the slide even faster than before. Sharp turn to the right, gentle downward slope, another right turn, horizontal loop-de-loop, then a series of turns that would make anyone unused to them sick. Almost there.  
  
Blinding light hit Sonic in the face as he flew out the end of the tunnel and landed on a large pile of hay. He uncurled and stood up, looking around suspiciously.  
  
The area where he had landed was in front of Knothole's main square, which contained a fireplace in its center, now smoking and still. Huts dotted the worn dirt paths that led away from the area in several directions. Behind him, he knew, was one of the two mountains that created the valley where Knothole resided. It climbed upward to meet the rest of the forest, and then leveled off to become flat with the landscape surrounding the valley. Tall, mighty trees towered up above. They served a double purpose: not only were they highly useful for shade on hot days, but their massive green canopies completely camouflaged the entire area from aerial view. The trees had grown so tall that their tops were on the same elevation with the other trees growing in the rest of the forest. It was the perfect place for a hidden base, and had only been discovered once, by accident.  
  
Sonic slid off the hay pile and began walking along one of the dirt paths. Everything was quiet, as far as he could tell. Birds twittered above. Leaves rustled in the light wind. One of the wooden huts he walked by gave a weary creak. Sonic stopped and put his hands on his hips, confused. Where was everybody?  
  
One of Sonic's ears twitched as a small boom and a sharp whistling came from somewhere behind him. Sonic spun around 180 degrees and scanned the area for the source of the sound. He didn't see anything unusual. He looked all around himself in a circle. Nothing. The whistling seemed to be getting louder, though. Sonic scratched his forehead in puzzlement. Then he looked up.  
  
He spotted the object a millisecond before the collision. The world around him exploded into multicolored flashes of light, then abruptly faded into darkness.  
  
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Tails opened the door to his hut and yawned. Gosh, he'd slept a long time that day. Still, he now felt rested and ready to go. He stretched, working the kinks out of his arms and legs. Feeling much better, he began to walk in the direction of the Conference Room, which also served as the village cafeteria. Time for him to get something to eat, he decided. He patted his stomach and licked his lips as he visualized the food. He hadn't woken up in time to eat breakfast that morning, and as a result his appetite had been doubled.  
  
He turned a corner and the building came into view-  
  
-along with Sonic, whose back was flying towards him at high speed. Tails yelled and leaped backwards as Sonic's body soared past, missing him by less than an inch and trailing dark smoke. Sonic sailed between several of Knothole's huts and smacked solidly into a tree, where he slid down to the ground and lay still, eyes closed. Soot covered him from head to toe, but Tails could still see several burns marring Sonic's body. Tails looked around the corner in the direction Sonic had been thrown from. What he saw was a blackened, sooty crater smoking in the middle of the path.  
  
Horrified, Tails began to yell for help.  
  
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Sonic slowly woke like a deep-sea diver, swimming up towards the surface of consciousness. Gradually his senses returned to him. He could feel himself lying on a soft surface. Something warm was covering his body, but stopped at his chest. Somebody was saying something, but he couldn't understand what it was. His hearing began to clarify itself, and soon the words resolved into basic Mobian.  
  
"Hey doc! I think he's waking up!"  
  
Sonic opened his eyes. At first all he could see were colored blurs. He blinked, and the surroundings focused into familiar shapes. He was in Knothole's medical hut, lying in a clean white bed and covered with blankets. Standing around him were several of his friends from the Freedom Fighter resistance group.  
  
"Are you OK, Sonic?" Asked a very worried Tails from where he was standing on Sonic's left. The twin appendages that gave him his name twitched restlessly in anxiety.  
  
Sonic gave a small smile to reassure his companion and slowly sat up. The sheets covering him fell into his lap, revealing bandages on his chest, stomach, and arms. He remembered what had happened and his hands flew to his head, where they could feel several other bandages there. "What hit me?" He groaned. "I feel like Robuttnik tried to sit on my head."  
  
More than one of the Freedom Fighters cracked a grin at this remark. Sally, who was standing on Sonic's right, began to explain.  
  
"Well, you know that the Day of Independence is next week, right?"  
  
Sonic nodded. The Day of Independence. The anniversary of the formation of the Acorn Kingdom, the Day was celebrated each year by the Freedom Fighter groups.  
  
"Well, we were planning on taking a trip out to the Great Unknown and having a celebration then, and we were testing some new types of fireworks that Rotor came up with for the occasion."  
  
"Everything was going fine until one of the prototypes malfunctioned and flew into Knothole." Rotor continued from his spot at the foot of Sonic's bed. "We think it's what hit you."  
  
"Yah've been outta it fah awhile, shugah." Bunnie remarked from beside Antoine. "We-all were right worried 'bout yah."  
  
"Well, I'm okay now." Sonic replied. A flash of pain seared through his head, and he winced. "Or not. Ouch."  
  
Sally pushed him gently back down onto his pillow. "The doctor told us that you suffered a minor concussion and several second-degree burns from the explosion. You're still not done healing, so you need to rest for the next few days."  
  
"But Sal," Sonic whined, "if I stay here, I might miss the party!"  
  
"I'll be recording it on tape in case you do." Rotor spoke up. "You won't miss the show."  
  
"The show isn't what I want to be there for, the food is!" Sonic retorted. "Uncle Chuck said he was gonna fix a batch of his chili dogs! I can't miss out on those!!"  
  
"Sonic," Sally replied sternly, "you are going to stay here until you get better, you got that?"  
  
Sonic sat up again and stared at her defiantly. "Just try and make me!"  
  
Sally accepted that gladly. "Fine. Since I outrank you, I command you to remain here until your wounds are fully healed." She folded her arms and arched an eyebrow at him. "That's a royal order, Sonic!"  
  
Sonic's jaw dropped slightly as he looked at Sally. "You're pulling rank on me?"  
  
Sally nodded, expression still stern.  
  
Sonic's mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds, then he folded his arms and gritted his teeth, looking angrily at some spot on his sheets. He seemed very much like a five-year-old denied one of his wants.  
  
Tails reached out and gingerly touched Sonic's elbow. "It'll be okay, Sonic. We'll bring you back some of the food."  
  
Sonic gave Tails a sideways glance, then relaxed with a sigh. "Okay, then. Thanks, big guy." He smiled.  
  
At that point the doctor walked into Sonic's field of vision and told everybody to please leave and let him get some sleep. All of them obeyed except for Sally, who stuck around long enough to give Sonic a quick peck on the cheek and whisper in his ear for him to get better soon. Sonic blushed, making his fur look purple. "Awww, Sal, not here!" He complained, embarrassed. Sally exited the room wearing a rather mischievous smile, and Sonic was left alone.  
  
Sonic sighed and looked around for something to do. He didn't feel the least bit tired, so sleeping was out of the question. His legs twitched restlessly. They weren't used to staying in one position for so long, and wanted to go running. Sonic sympathized, but Sally had told him to stay here, so here he was stuck.  
  
Sonic twiddled his thumbs, bored. If only he had something else to do! If only-  
  
A knock at the door to his room interrupted his thoughts. "Come in." He called out.  
  
The door opened to admit a pink hedgehog wearing a nurse's outfit. Sonic blanched.  
  
"Hi Sonic!" Amy yipped excitedly. "How're you doing? I was so worried when I heard about what happened! Are you all right? Do you need anything? Are you hurt? Is everything okay? You should get lots of sleep, you know, because that's the only way you'll heal. I heard something about a big celebration coming on the Day of Independence. Is it true? I hope it is. Did the other Freedom Fighters visit you just now? I saw them leaving, so they probably did. So what's going on?" She said all of this very fast. Sonic's head was spinning by the time she finished.  
  
"A-amy," He croaked out, "why are you dressed like that?"  
  
Amy gave a high-pitched giggle before starting off again. "They let me be your nursemaid! Isn't it cool? Now I'll be able to take care of you, just like you took care of me! I'll bring you your meals, help you get around, make your bed, and anything else you need! Oh, this is so awesome! I'll be able to be with you all the time, now! What do you think of my uniform, do you like it? They just gave it to me, I hope it fits. So, what do you think?"  
  
Sonic felt like he was going to be sick. "Yeah. It's great." He mumbled unenthusiastically.  
  
Amy squealed and clasped her hands in front of her, bouncing up and down. "Really?? You really, really like it? Oh, YAY! Sonic likes my uniform! Yippee! Hee-hee!"  
  
Sonic held a hand to his forehead to ease the throbbing headache he suddenly had. He mustered up all the patience he had in order to speak calmly. "Amy," He asked, "could you please quiet down a little bit? Please?"  
  
Amy's expression suddenly became sympathetic. "Oh no, do you have a headache? Poor Sonic! Don't worry, I'll go get you some aspirin! It'll take the pain away in a jiffy! Be right back!" She ran out the door and was gone.  
  
Sonic looked around the room wildly. Now was his chance to escape. Royal order or no, there was no way he was going to stay in this madhouse with her as his nurse. Uh-uh. Forget it.  
  
A window! Sonic leaped out of bed and immediately regretted it as his head throbbed painfully. Gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain, he staggered across the room to the window and opened it. Lifting one foot and placing it on the edge, he prepared to jump to freedom.  
  
The door opened behind him. "Sonic, I'm back!"  
  
Sonic froze on the spot. There came a gasp from behind him and the sound of a bottle clattering to the floor. "Sonic! What are you doing? You know you're not supposed to leave until you're better!" Amy reprimanded him while grabbing him by one arm.  
  
Sonic jerked out of her grip. "Ack! No! Stay away from me!" He yelled, scrambling to get the rest of the way out of the window.  
  
Amy took out a whistle that hung on a chain around her neck and blew a piercing note on it. "SECURITY!"  
  
It eventually required two really strong guys to drag Sonic, kicking and screaming, back through the window into bed. Four more than that were needed to hold him down when Amy decided to inject him with a sedative. Afterwards Sonic was moved to a private room without any windows.  
  
  
  
Over the next several days Sonic received many visitors, not to mention gifts and get-well cards. A surprise came on the third day of his "imprisonment" (as he called it) when Knuckles walked into Sonic's room.  
  
Sonic looked up from one of his cards he was reading, blinked in surprise, and sat up with a grin. "Knux! How're you doin', man?" He asked while shaking the echidna's huge hand. "Wow, it's great to see you. It's been torture down here."  
  
Knuckles grinned. "I'd imagine it would be. That's why I decided to drop by."  
  
The smile faded from Sonic's face. "No, Knux. I'm serious. You have absolutely no idea how bad it's been. Do you know who they let be my nursemaid?"  
  
Knuckles shook his head while absently looking at the pile of momentos on Sonic's beside table. "No. Who is it?"  
  
The door opened to admit an overenthusiastic Amy carrying a tray laden with food. She walked up to Sonic, placed the tray on his lap, and walked back out the door, all while talking endlessly. "Lunch time! Here you go, Sonic! Make sure you eat everything, now! Hi Knuckles! How are you doing? Really? That's nice. Visitors are only allowed until five, so don't stay too long! If there's anything else you need, just ring the bell! I'll be happy to do it! Bye! See ya! So long!"  
  
The door closed behind her, and the room descended into heavy silence. Knuckles looked at Sonic with wide eyes. "Oh, man."  
  
Sonic returned the look. "Yeah, you better believe it." He said grimly before taking a bite of his food. "They had to sedate me after I first found out."  
  
"I hope you're exaggerating."  
  
"I wish." Sonic mumbled through his food.  
  
Knuckles' eyes grew even wider. "Wow."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Eager for a change of subject, Knuckles once again noticed the large pile of cards and presents next to Sonic's bed. "Gee, it seems like you've got a lot of fans." He joked while picking one up.  
  
Sonic brightened. "Yeah, wouldn't you know it? That one's from one of my friends on Little Planet. His name's Ray the Squirrel."  
  
Knuckles cocked an eyebrow in Sonic's direction. "Ray? I thought you met him before the Little Planet fiasco."  
  
Sonic grinned and took another bite. "Yeah, I did, but he decided to move to Little Planet after I told him about my adventure there. He's been there ever since."  
  
Knuckles blinked. "Oh.okay. How'd you get it if he lives on Little Planet? Doesn't that place time warp constantly?"  
  
Sonic gave him an odd look. "Two days ago was when Little Planet annually appears over Never Lake. Weren't you there?"  
  
Knuckles shook his head, causing his dreadlocks to swing. "No, I was busy looking after the Floating Island."  
  
Sonic shrugged. "Well, we established radio contact with them and told 'em the whole story. Ray sent the card just before they warped."  
  
"Ah." Knuckles nodded and set the card back in the pile before picking up another one. "Hey, this one's from the Flickies!" He exclaimed. The Flickies were a race of superintelligent birds that Sonic had gone on an adventure with not too long ago.  
  
Sonic glanced over Knuckles' shoulder and nodded. "Yup, sure is. Specifically, it's from Nimbus and Cirrus. They were imprisoned inside some of the E-100 series robots before I freed them."  
  
Knuckles stared at the blue hedgehog. "You're joking. Why didn't you ever tell me that before?"  
  
Sonic's grin turned into a sly smile. "You never asked. Say, how is the Island doing? Anybody tried to steal the Master Emerald yet?"  
  
Knuckles groaned. "Don't even say it! It's been a real job helping it recover, but I think it's starting to show some improvement. The times that the Master Emerald went missing really messed up the environment, though. It'll be a while before things are completely normal again."  
  
"What's up with the Chaotix lately?"  
  
Knuckles visibly brightened at the mention of his teammates. "They're doing great! I keep catching Charmy playing in Lava Reef, though. Why he'd want to play there is beyond me, but it's supposed to be off-limits." He shrugged. "Maybe I should put up some more security systems down there. Or maybe not. Vector thinks he's found a new section of Marble Gardens that got uncovered when the island splashed down last time. I doubt it, though."  
  
Sonic nodded. "What about Mighty and Espio?"  
  
Knux grinned. "Espio keeps trying to sucker us into playing hide-and-seek with him. So far, I've been the only one to find him when he "hides". As for Mighty, he's playing guard duty in case Rouge comes around again."  
  
Sonic cocked his head to the side. "She been botherin' ya again?"  
  
"You don't know the half of it. I think she's worse than Amy is, Sonic."  
  
Sonic gave a low whistle. "She's pretty bad, then."  
  
The door opened again, and Amy walked back into the room. "Well, speak of the devil." Sonic muttered.  
  
"It's 5:03." Amy told Knuckles in a bossy, no-nonsense tone of voice. "Visiting time is over! We need to let my Sonic get some rest!" She began to push Knuckles towards the door, making shooing motions with her hands. "You can come back again tomorrow if you want. Okay? Okay. Goodbye!"  
  
"See you later, Sonic!" Knux called out before Amy shut the door behind him.  
  
  
  
Sonic could have sworn he was going insane over the next few days from the sheer amount of exposure to Amy. He was still making sense on the day he was to be checked out, luckily.  
  
Apart from the fact that he ran out the door to the medical hut and through Knothole at several hundred miles an hour while screaming "I'M FREE!" and laughing maniacally, he seemed fine.  
  
And apart from the fact that he kept babbling about evil pink monsters trying to kill him, he appeared okay.  
  
And apart from how he woke up at night screaming in terror, he acted normally.  
  
And besides the strange eye tic he'd developed, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------  
  
Robotnik sat back in his command center chair and sighed.  
  
It wasn't his normal kind of hopeless, I-hate-that-hedgehog sigh. This sigh was the kind that showed he was relaxed and comfortable.  
  
He sipped from an enormous coffee mug that he held in both hands. The liquid inside the mug wasn't coffee, but what he deemed "the good stuff": 50% Oil, 20%lemon juice and 30% caffeine.  
  
He took another sip. Ah yes, delicious.  
  
Idly he reached over and pressed a button on the armrest of his chair. From hidden speakers in the walls, a soft ambient music began playing. Robotnik rumbled in pleasure and took another sip.  
  
This was the kind of day which he enjoyed. Nothing important to do, no big plans that required his attention, no blue hedgehogs giving him ulcers. The SWATbot factories were running smoothly, a new power plant was up and functional, the Freedom Fighters hadn't attacked for days now (which was highly unusual), and Robotnik had decided that a little vacation time was in order.  
  
Robotnik took a sip. It was almost too good to be true.  
  
WHAM. The room shook and rumbled as a far-off explosion was heard. Alarm lights began going off in the room, and his beloved music was replaced with the shrill wail of a siren. Robotnik was so startled that he accidentally dropped his mug. The glass cup crashed to the floor and shattered, spilling "the good stuff" everywhere. Robotnik attempted to sit up, but another tremor rocked the fortress at that moment and threw him onto the shards of his former coffee mug. Smoke began to pour in the room from outside.  
  
Robotnik banged both fists down on the floor and screamed, "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!"  
  
  
  
Sonic laughed helplessly as he watched Robotnik's forces attempt to fix the destruction he'd just caused. Still giggling, he decided that he shouldn't make things easy for the Doc, and spindashed through all of the repair 'bots he saw. A couple blocks from the fortress proper, Robotnik's new power plant was up in flames. The fortress itself now sported several new dents in one side, and Robotnik's prized SWATbot factory had been mysteriously turned offline a couple minutes earlier.  
  
Sonic ran to the rooftop of a nearby building and looked out at the fruits of his labor with a satisfied grin. Man, he'd missed doing this.  
  
Sonic took a deep breath and yelled towards the fortress, "Happy Day of Independence, Doc!"  
  
Sonic sped away towards the Great Forest as a group of SWATbots opened fire in his direction.  
  
Then he turned a corner and came nose-to-spike with Metal Sonic.  
  
"Hiya, Mecha!" Sonic exclaimed with a cheeky wave. "Kick-butt weather we've been having, huh?"  
  
"Hello, Sssssonic." Was the hissed reply. The robot glanced over Sonic's shoulder at the destruction beyond. "I see you've been busy."  
  
"I like to keep busy." Sonic nonchalantly replied while casually inspecting some dirt on one of his gloves. "As for you?"  
  
"Same old, same old." Mecha replied, mimicking Sonic's attitude. Without warning, his hand shot out in a low swipe that Sonic deftly dodged. "Hunting down and catching blue hedgehogs and such."  
  
Sonic made a taunting face in the robot's direction. "Ha! You couldn't even catch your breath if you tried!"  
  
"A completely irrelevant observation, considering I don't breathe." Mecha stated drily before opening fire. Sonic dodged every shot, grinning like an idiot and enjoying every moment of it.  
  
"Oh man! Your aiming sucks, Mecha!" Sonic laughed before speeding away. Metal Sonic pursued him openly, red eyes glowing bright.  
  
Sonic switched streets randomly, not really caring which path led to where. At one point he found himself at a dead end. He stopped and turned around to face Mecha, a confident smile on his face.  
  
"You've been rather quiet these few weeks." Mecha observed as he approached. "But now you come and demolish my master's nice new power plant and factory. Why?"  
  
"Yes." Sonic answered.  
  
Mecha blinked. "What?"  
  
"Yes." Sonic repeated, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "It's the ultimate answer. If you actually have to ask me that question, then I'm amazed you've got a computer for a brain."  
  
Mecha's eyes dimmed in the robotic equivalent of an annoyed sigh. "Your conversational skills bore me, Hedgehog. Just shut up and die."  
  
Sonic leaped above the initial barrage of lasers and started speeding up the walls of the dead-end alley. He leaped onto the roof of the building, then crouched and waited for Mecha to follow.  
  
Metal Sonic was very surprised to be greeted by a spindash in the face when he cleared the edge of the rooftop, and flailed around as Sonic's momentum threw them off the roof and into open air.  
  
"Insolent rodent!" Mecha yelled. As they were falling, Sonic gleefully socked Mecha in the face over and over, maximizing the damage he caused. Both hedgehogs crashed to the ground in a tangled heap, Mecha taking the brunt of the impact since he'd been below Sonic when they landed. Mecha fought like a caged wildcat, enraged that Sonic had tricked him into taking a direct hit. Sonic leaped out of range with ease, blew a raspberry at Metal Sonic, then dashed away while the robot attempted to retaliate.  
  
Sonic was still laughing when he arrived back in Knothole ten seconds later.  
  
  
  
  
  
Mecha slowly dragged his dented, broken body back to Robotnik's Repair Bay. He had failed again. He clenched his fists so tight that sparks spat from his steel palms. He HATED losing!  
  
His one eye that was still working properly burned a baleful red with unsupressed rage.  
  
Sonic would pay for this. 


	2. Chapter 2 Vendetta

Chapter II  
  
Vendetta  
  
Author's Notes: Hiya-hiya! Stoney here! First of all, I appreciate all the feedback I'm getting from you guys! It really helps motivate me to continue writing. For those of you who were disappointed because the last chapter didn't actually have Sonic and Metal Sonic switch places, be patient. The switcheroo will come soon, I promise. And no, it won't happen in this chapter, either. I plan to make Mecha and Sonic's feelings toward each other clear before I switch them, and in this chapter we'll take a brief saunter through Mecha's thoughts to learn what he thinks about the situation. So tie yourselves down, stuff wax in your ears and pray to your God, 'cause here we go!  
  
  
  
"I hate him."  
  
Sparks flew from the fusion cutter as it chipped away the dented metal from his body. The whine of machinery was loud enough to make anything else inaudible, but he spoke anyway.  
  
"I HATE him!"  
  
His eyes burned with rage as they stared hard at the image superimposed on his robotic vision. The image was of a blue hedgehog waving and grinning at him, his body language calling him a complete wimp.  
  
He slammed his metal fists down on the table so hard that the triple-forged titanium buckled. "I HATE HIM!!!"  
  
The sounds of machinery suddenly cut out as a robotic voice spoke up from his side. "Mr. Metal Sonic, please remain still. Your movement is compromising the repairs."  
  
Mecha turned his head to regard the repair 'bot who'd just spoken. "How long until I am fully functional again?" He asked, ignoring the 'bot's previous statement.  
  
"At this rate, too long." Was the monotonous reply. "Approximately another three hours at the least."  
  
Mecha's eyes dimmed. "Then hurry it up and continue." He growled. The sounds of active machines resumed, and Mecha returned to staring at the ceiling of the Repair Bay. "You will pay for this, Ssssssonic." He muttered, before shutting himself down.  
  
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Five Minutes Earlier...  
  
A whoosh of air and accompanying sonic boom announced Sonic's arrival in Knothole. As usual, the first person he saw was Sally, asking if the mission was successful. He gave her a big thumbs-up before heading through the village to tell everyone else.  
  
Sonic got halfway through the village square before he was tackled to the ground by Tails. "Sonic! How'd the mission go? Did you kick their butts?"  
  
Sonic mussed the fur on top of Tails' head. "You bet I did, little bro. Me an' Metal Sonic got into a bit of a fight, and he didn't wind up winning. I'd say he'll be out of the picture for awhile now."  
  
"Awesome!" Tails cheered. "What else happened?"  
  
"Ah, well, you know, the usual. Dismantling SWATbots, wrecking buildings, giving Doc Buttnik something to think about. Tell you what. Howzabout you let me up, and I'll give you all the details?"  
  
Tails got up off Sonic with an embarrassed look. Sonic stood up, primly dusted himself off, then launched into a long and overly exaggerated tale of his heroic mission to Robotropolis. As Sonic spoke, he dramatically acted out key parts in the story for Tails' benefit. Tails was an excellent audience: He stood captivated as Sonic described sneaking through the heavy security around the power plant, then locating and destroying the power core, causing the entire building to erupt in flames. He gasped when Sonic told of meeting Metal Sonic, and cheered when Sonic explained how he won the fight. Sonic didn't stop the story until Sally strode up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked him with a touch of sarcasm if he was going to eat dinner sometime.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure Sal. I'll be right there." He answered sheepishly. "C'mon Tails, let's go get some grub!"  
  
"Okay! Hey, wait for me!" Tails yelled as Sonic took off towards the Conference Room. Spinning his twin tails behind him like helicopter blades, Tails lifted off and flew after Sonic.  
  
----------  
  
His distorted, sparking, near-lifeless body lay at his master's feet. All but the most essential of his systems had shut down in a desperate attempt to preserve his own life, which meant he was all but paralyzed. He knew it would be only a matter of time before he deactivated completely if he did not receive proper treatment and repairs.  
  
Struggling to speak with his words marred by static, he began to plead for mercy. "I lost the battle. Forgive me, Sir."  
  
"Why should I?" Was the scornful reply. Robotnik sneered at his creation. "You have failed me for the last time, Metal Sonic. Take him to the incinerator!" He barked at a couple SWATbots standing nearby.  
  
Mecha stared, photoreceptors wide open. "No! Doctor, please-!"  
  
"SILENCE!" Robotnik bellowed. "I have heard enough of your worthless excuses! Get him out of my sight!"  
  
"No! Don't, please! I will try again! Sir!" Metal Sonic wailed as his frame was picked up and carted out of the room. "Please! Don't do this! NO!"  
  
  
  
"NOOOO!!"  
  
Metal Sonic came online screaming. He looked around himself wildly, expecting to hear the hum of the incinerator starting up at any moment. Instead, he heard the quiet whirring of the battery recharger in the Repair Bay.  
  
Mecha sat up and blinked. He was still functioning! It hadn't really happened! Relief washed through his circuits in a refreshing wave. He was okay. His master hadn't abandoned him.  
  
He grew confused. But what was that bizarre string of visual data he'd received while recharging...?  
  
Could it have been...?  
  
"Impossible." Mecha scoffed. "Only biological organisms dream. Robots cannot." Still, the data did seem exactly like how a dream should be, according to what he knew about them. Maybe it WAS possible after all?  
  
Mecha ran a quick self-diagnostic, making sure that he was still functioning correctly. Perhaps he had accidentally received a virus of some sort? He checked, but all signs came up clear. There were no corrupted files in his system, either. Mecha shook his head. Maybe the hedgehog damaged his system scanner. If that was the case, he could have a virus and he wouldn't even know it.  
  
Mecha's eyes flared. It was all Sonic's fault! The hedgehog had done this to him, he was sure. Sonic had definitely had the opportunity to do so, and the motive, too. He'd probably done something to Mecha during their battle...  
  
In a fit of rage, Mecha stood up and ripped out the cords that were sending power to his batteries. Firing his rocket engines, Metal Sonic flew out the entrance to the Repair Bay and aimed himself towards the Great Forest. He'd track down Sonic and exact revenge if it took all day.  
  
"Prepare to die, Ssssssonic!" Mecha hissed as he passed Robotropolis' border.  
  
----------  
  
"You again??" He growled. "Don't you know when to give up?!"  
  
She batted her long eyelashes at him in an expression she used to bring men to their knees. "Why, I don't know what you're talking about. I was just out for a stroll, is all."  
  
"Liar!" Mighty snorted. "Knux told me all about you! Stay away from the Master Emerald, understand? I'm not gonna let you take it!"  
  
Rouge's foxy smile became an annoyed frown. "Oh, really? And what makes you think I'm even after it? Or did Knuckles neglect to tell you I've quit the treasure-hunting business?"  
  
Mighty faltered. Knux HAD neglected to tell him that, and Rouge's supermodel looks were affecting him more than he was letting on. He gritted his teeth and composed himself. "Shut up! I don't believe you for one second, bat! Get out of here NOW before I make you!"  
  
Rouge rolled her eyes and tossed her hands into the air. "Fine! I only came by to tell Knuckles some important news, but if that's the way you're gonna be about it, then forget it! Just tell him that I've found something important that he might be interested in. If he wants to know what it is, then tell him to meet me at the south shore of Never Lake in two hours. That's all." A flap of leathery black wings, and Rouge vanished into the treetops.  
  
Mighty relaxed with a nervous sigh, and wiped a thin sheen of sweat off his forehead. That was close.  
  
Mighty unhooked a portable communicator from a small belt around his waist and adjusted it to Knuckles frequency. Depressing the "Talk" Button, he began talking into the speaker. "Knuckles, come in. It's Mighty. Knuckles, can you hear me?"  
  
A rustle of static came through, followed by Knuckles' voice answering. "Yeah, Mighty, I hear ya. What is it?"  
  
"Rouge just stopped by for a visit." Knuckles startled Mighty a bit by growling at the mention of Rouge's name. "She said she wanted to talk to you." Mighty continued.  
  
"Did ya chase her off?"  
  
"Yeah, but she wanted me to tell you something." He related to Knuckles the rest of what the white bat had told him.  
  
"It's a trap." Knux stated flatly.  
  
"Well, I don't know. She seemed to be telling the truth, Knux. Maybe you'd better check it out anyway, just in case. I can hold down the fort until you get back."  
  
Knuckles considered for a long moment. He really didn't want to trust anything Rouge said at face value, but she would have needed to be a dang fine actor to convince Mighty she was being honest. "Fine. But I'm taking Espio with me." He replied at last. "You, Vector and Charmy play guard until I return. If we're not back within forty-eight hours, contact the Freedom Fighters for help."  
  
Mighty nodded. "You got it! See you then, Knux!"  
  
----------  
  
"Hey! Could I get some more chili dogs, please?"  
  
"AGAIN??" The exasperated chef replied. "That was your third helping just now! Don't you think you've had enough?!"  
  
Sonic patted his stomach and smiled. "A word of advice for ya. You can never, repeat NEVER get enough chili dogs! They're the supreme food of the universe! Now, can I get some more? Pretty please?"  
  
The chef sighed. "Oh, allright. But this is the last time!"  
  
Sonic beamed. "Thanks, man!"  
  
Five minutes later, Sonic walked back to one of the tables in the Conference Hut with a plate loaded down with his favorite food. He set the plate down carefully and took a seat. Next to him, Tails was working on his own, smaller plate of chili dogs. Sally was eating a large salad across the table.  
  
Sonic wrinkled his nose at Sally's choice of dish. "How can you stand to eat that stuff, Sal?"  
  
Sally took a bite of some leafy green lettuce and swallowed before replying. "What I want to know, Sonic, is how YOU can stand to eat three helpings in a row and not be full!"  
  
Sonic grinned and began devouring his dinner. "Touché."  
  
Across from Sonic, Tails had already finished. He licked up all the excess chili around his mouth and fingers, and burped loudly.  
  
Sally gasped. "Goodness, Tails! What do you say after that?!" She reprimanded.  
  
Sonic paused his eating frenzy for a moment and grinned. "Wait, I know! How about 'nice diaphragm control'?"  
  
"And YOU stay out of this!" She said to Sonic. "Well, Tails?"  
  
Tails thought for a brief moment, then his face lit up in a grin identical to Sonic's. "That sure tasted better going down than it did coming up!"  
  
Sally blinked in surprise, and Sonic cracked up. "Oh, man! Good one, Tails!" Sonic laughed while sharing a high-five with the fox. "That was great!"  
  
Sally's expression clouded over with anger. "Did you tell him to say that, Sonic?!"  
  
"Sure did!" Sonic grinned. "The guy's a natural at it, too! Here Tails, watch this!" Sonic leaned back, swallowed another bite of his food, then let out an enormous belch which shook the rafters of the hut. This evoked peals of laughter from the two-tailed fox, and an angry sigh from Sally.  
  
"Oh Sonic, why don't you just GROW UP??" She huffed before eating the last bite of her salad and getting up to put her dishes away.  
  
"I would, except I'm too handsome to get old!" Sonic called after her. "C'mon Tails. Let's get this stuff cleaned up, and then I'll race ya to the Lake of Rings and back!"  
  
"Alright!" The fox cheered.  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later found the duo at the edge of Knothole, digging starting blocks into the dirt. "Okay," Sonic began, "we'll race to the lake, circle around it, then zoom back to Knothole. First one to touch that big tree behind us wins. Got it?"  
  
"Got it!"  
  
"Right, then! On your mark.."  
  
A loud cry of delight interrupted them. "SONIC!!"  
  
Sonic and Tails clamped their hands over their heads and dropped to the ground, ears ringing with the volume of the cry. Milliseconds later, Sonic was forced into a very tight bear hug by an excited Amy.  
  
Sonic gagged, struggling to get air into his lungs. "Amy...let go...I can't breathe..."  
  
The pink hedgehog released Sonic, but not before planting a quick kiss on his cheek. Sonic yelled and clawed frantically at the affected area once his arms were free to do so. Amy didn't notice, as she was too busy hopping up and down on the spot and squealing Sonic's name over and over.  
  
Tails, whom had recovered by now, began to watch with an expression bordering somewhere between laughter and disgust. He didn't like boy-crazy girls any more than Sonic did, but Sonic's reactions to Amy's presence were usually very funny to someone watching from the sidelines.  
  
Sure enough, Sonic panicked. "Tails!" He yelled. "Readysetgo!" He fled into the forest without another sound.  
  
"Hey!" Tails yelled angrily before taking off in close pursuit. "Sorry Amy, having a race! See ya later!" He called back to the confused hedgehog as he vanished into the trees after Sonic.  
  
Amy blinked twice. She shook her fists in the air and tilted her head back to scream at the heavens, "I hate it when you guys leave me behind! Get back here!!"  
  
----------  
  
Robotnik growled and clenched his fists tighter around the SWATbot's neck. Sparks flew from underneath his fingers, but he ignored them. "What do you MEAN he got away?!" He roared, shaking the hapless robot violently.  
  
The SWATbot had not yet deactivated, miraculously. However, it's words slurred together as he replied, "Priority hedgehog evaded pursuit from units three, five, and six. Metal Sonic engaged Priority Hedgehog in battle, and Priority Hedgehog departed. SWATbot units were unable to match velocity of-"  
  
Whatever else the robot was going to say, it never did so. Robotnik roared again and threw the SWATbot into the wall, effectively smashing it to pieces.  
  
The other SWATbots in the room stared straight ahead impassively, not paying the slightest bit of attention to their former companion. Robotnik seethed, his metal hand clenched over his chair's armrest so hard it bent the frame. True, he had programmed the bots to behave like this, but right now their calm indifference irritated him.  
  
"Round up SWATbot squadrons 3, 6, 5, and 8! I want them patrolling the area with status reports every ten minutes! If that hedgehog comes back, he will NOT escape again!" He growled to the nearest robot.  
  
"Yes, sir!" The SWATbots saluted smartly before turning on their heels and exiting the room.  
  
Robotnik pressed a button on his armrest, then realized he had twisted it so much it wasn't working anymore. Robotnik growled again, and pressed another button on his opposite armrest. Leaning over, he spoke into a built- in intercom.  
  
"Computer!" He barked. "Scan the city for Metal Sonic!"  
  
"Scanning." A pleasant female monotone replied. "Scan complete. Robot designation 'Metal Sonic' is not located within the search perimeters."  
  
"Increase the scan range by five miles." Robotnik impatiently ordered. He knew it was possible that Mecha was patrolling outside the city, in the barren wasteland that separated Robotropolis from the rest of the surrounding countryside.  
  
"Scan complete. Robot designation 'Metal Sonic' is not located within the search perimeters."  
  
Robotnik furrowed his brow, then sat back and began thinking. Mecha had left the city and its surroundings entirely, and had done so without reporting in. Robotnik began absently twirling one side of his moustache around his finger. Where was the most likely place Mecha would be if he wasn't in or near the city?  
  
The answer hit him like a falling piano. Of course! "Computer, new search. Scan location: Great Forest for Metal Sonic."  
  
"Scanning."  
  
Robotnik drummed his fingers on his working armrest impatiently.  
  
"Scan complete. Robot designation 'Metal Sonic' has been found at coordinates-"  
  
Robotnik interrupted impatiently. "Patch through a transmission to his current position."  
  
"Acknowledged. Contacting, please wait."  
  
------  
  
Metal Sonic swept the forest with his radar again, then studied the results. There were millions of life readings around here, but most of them were non-sentient animal life. Nothing resembled the object of his search. He shut off his rocket engine to lessen the amount of noise he caused, then began walking. He'd find Sonic sooner or later, he was sure.  
  
A large blip appeared on his radar screen. "Well, well, well. It appears that the hedgehog is headed my way." Mecha observed. Another blip appeared, following the first. "And his fox friend is with him, as well. Well, the more, the merrier."  
  
Already a plan was forming in the blue robot's mind. He opened a panel in his arm and pulled out two round, metallic objects. Looking around, he spotted two trees on either side of him. Perfect. He walked over to one tree, placed the object inbetween its lowest branches, then walked over to the other tree and did the same. He stood back and surveyed the scene. Unless you were looking for them, you couldn't see the devices. Mecha brought out a tiny remote control riddled with gadgets, and pressed down on a certain button. A nearly inaudible hum indicated that the objects were now activated.  
  
Mecha glared in the direction that Sonic would arrive from, then dashed into a grove of bushes to hide. He would not fail this time.  
  
----------  
  
"Aw, c'mon Tails, you can do better than that!"  
  
Tails gritted his teeth and forced his tails to spin a little faster. "Shut...up...Sonic!"  
  
Sonic grinned at his flying companion. Actually, Tails was doing better than Sonic had expected. Already Sonic was cruising at one-half his full speed, and Tails was still side-by-side with him. Sonic made a mental note to not underestimate the fox in the future.  
  
"Ready to eat my dust, kiddo?" Sonic called out.  
  
"Ha! Just you wait, Sonic! Watch this, and eat MY dust!"  
  
Tails pulled off one glove, pulled something shiny and yellow out of it and held it over his head. The object gave off a brilliant yellow glow that encompassed Tails' whole body. When it faded, Tails was pulling ahead of Sonic by a large margin.  
  
"Hey! No fair using Power Rings!" Sonic yelped. He began to pour on the speed to catch up with the canine, and the space between the two racers slowly began to narrow.  
  
----------  
  
Metal Sonic looked up from his radar to watch the area between the trees. They were almost here...  
  
----------  
  
Tails drew on some more of the Ring's power, boosting his lead another few meters. This was great! He was beating Sonic!  
  
----------  
  
Sonic lapsed into the ground-gulping stride that he used to break the sound barrier, and leaped forward dramatically. There was no way he would let Tails beat him!  
  
----------  
  
Tails could see the lake in the distance. He was almost there! He swooped down inbetween a couple trees-  
  
And was stopped in midair by some invisible force.  
  
Tails' train of thought instantly derailed. What in the world? He wasn't moving forward or backward an inch! He tried to propel his tails to go faster, but they were frozen in position. He tried to reach behind himself and forcibly spin them, but his arms wouldn't move. He hung in midair, motionless and bewildered.  
  
Tails began to panic. What had happened??  
  
Metal Sonic entered Tails' line of vision. Tails' eyes grew wide and he tried to yell out a warning to Sonic, but his jaw wouldn't work. "I would not suggest you do that." Mecha purred. "We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, would we?"  
  
Tails struggled wildly against whatever was restraining him. He had to warn Sonic!  
  
Metal Sonic growled as he noticed Tails fight against the force field he'd set up. "Very well, be that way." He punched a button on his remote control and the field zapped Tails with a small amount of electricity. "That shall teach you to stay still. Now remain quiet and do not attempt to escape. If you cooperate, I will not hurt you any more."  
  
Tails breathlessly ceased his struggles, thoughts whirring. How was he going to get out of this one?  
  
Sonic burst through the trees behind Tails and skidded to a stop at the sight that greeted him: Tails, locked in mid-dive, and Metal Sonic, standing in front of him. "Mecha!" Sonic yelled in outrage.  
  
"Hello, Ssssssonic." Mecha hissed. He produced two laser guns from a panel in his chest and motioned towards Tails' head with them. "I believe it would be in both of your best interests to not make any sudden moves right now."  
  
Slowly Sonic raised his hands in defeat, eyes never leaving the guns aimed at his friend. "Leave him out of this, Mecha. I'm the one you want, aren't I?"  
  
Metal Sonic carelessly twirled a gun around one steel claw while regarding Sonic with a scornful look. "Maybe, maybe not." He taunted. "If you would prefer to have your fox friend return to you in his original configuration, you'll cooperate and do as I say."  
  
Mecha's built-in radio suddenly crackled to life through a speaker on the side of his head. "Metal Sonic! Come in!" Robotnik's gravelly voice spoke over the hiss and whine of static.  
  
Mecha spoke out loud, eyes never leaving Sonic's. "I am here, Doctor."  
  
"Where the devil have you been?! Your report is overdue!"  
  
"I have been busy tracking down and locating the hedgehog, sir." Mecha calmly replied. "I am currently holding his fox friend hostage. Would you like to speak to them?" He added sarcastically.  
  
A brief, surprised pause came from Robotnik's end. "Mecha, bring him here to the city." Robotnik finally replied excitedly. "I'll send SWATbot squadrons 3, 6, 5, and 8 to meet you at the edge of the forest and escort you. Shoot the fox if he gives you any trouble at all."  
  
"Yes sir." Mecha replied before switching his radio off. He turned to gaze at Sonic, furiously realizing that he wouldn't be able to fight Sonic here like he'd planned. "Come," He spoke, hiding his rage beneath a mask of calm indifference. "We are going to Robotropolis."  
  
Sonic's expression darkened. "Well, it doesn't look as if I have much choice, do I?"  
  
Mecha replaced one gun within his hull, brought out his remote and flipped a switch. The objects hidden in the trees slowly rose into the air, and Tails rose up with them. Sonic squinted at the area around Tails. If he looked closely, he was able to see a faint yellow glow that betrayed the field's location. Metal Sonic moved forward, and the field floated along behind him, occupant and all. "Get going." Metal Sonic ordered, motioning for Sonic to walk ahead of him so the robot could see him at all times. Sonic gritted his teeth but obeyed, Mecha following him and the trapped Tails bringing up the rear.  
  
It was the oddest trip Sonic had ever taken. He was far more used to running than walking, but the field around Tails was unable to travel very fast and thus slowed them down. He could practically feel Mecha's eyes boring into his back the whole way. Indeed, Mecha was glaring at Sonic with enough fiery anger in his gaze to melt lead. Mecha refused to even have a decent conversation with Sonic, so the journey was made in silence.  
  
At the edge of the Great Forest, Mecha, Sonic and the captive Tails were surrounded by legions of robots. Sonic glumly realized that there were far too many for him to take out by himself. If he hadn't been in a fix beforehand, he definitely was now.  
  
---------- Robotnik hadn't felt so happy since he first overtook Mobotropolis and did away with the King. Sonic was his at last! He got up from his chair and did a very uncharacteristic victory dance right there. He stopped after only a few steps and sat back down, huffing and wheezing from the exertion. He wiped sweat from his forehead and grinned evilly. Now, time to plan for what he was going to do with the little rodent.  
  
Robotization? No, Sonic deserved far worse. Roboticizing Sonic for all the things he'd done would almost be kind.  
  
Death? No, that was also too kind, compared to other things he could do...  
  
Torture? Perhaps. The idea of keeping Sonic alive just enough to continue feeling prolonged, excruciating pain greatly appealed to him.  
  
Robotnik snapped the fingers on his metal hand with a sharp clank. "I've got it!" He pressed a button and spoke into his armrest intercom again. "Computer, ready my laboratory for a biological test on compound 18957."  
  
"Acknowledged."  
  
Robotnik clapped his hands together with glee as he got up and headed for his lab. Revenge would finally be his!  
  
----------  
  
Knuckles banked down in a slowly spiraling dive as they entered the air above Never Lake's southern shore. Espio rode on his back, clinging to the echidna's dreadlocks with all his might and forcing himself to not look at the ground. Heights freaked him out.  
  
Knuckles landed with perfection that came from years of practice, not even jostling his passenger. "We're here, Espio. You can let go now."  
  
Espio quickly released Knuckles and went into camouflage mode, disappearing from sight. Knuckles nodded approvingly. "Follow me and stay close." He instructed his companion in a whisper.  
  
Knux entered the wide stretch of beach that led down to the water's edge. Already waiting for him there was a very familiar fruit bat. "All right, Rouge, what's the deal with asking me to come here?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
Rouge tossed him something yellow and black. Knuckles caught it easily and studied it for a moment. It appeared to have once been a shoe, but had been melted until it was nothing more than a glob of twisted metal and plastic with some wires sticking out of it. "What's this?"  
  
"I found that in the woods about twenty meters west of here." Rouge explained while pointing into the trees. "There was another one there that was just like it. Check out its' bottom."  
  
Knux turned the mangled shoe over and noticed six circular tubes sticking out of the bottom, now bent in different directions. It seemed oddly familiar somehow.  
  
"They were sitting next to a small crater in the ground. And do you know what I found next to it?"  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"Footprints."  
  
Knux shook his head. "I still don't see what you're trying to tell me."  
  
"Knuckles, what you're holding is a hoverskate." Rouge replied exasperatedly. "Tell me, who's the only person we've ever known who wore hoverskates?"  
  
Knuckles' eyes bulged, and he dropped the skate as if it was still hot. "No. Way. He's dead, Rouge!"  
  
"But we don't know that for sure." Rouge pressed on, the hope evident in her voice. "Suppose he survived somehow?"  
  
"Are you INSANE?!" Knuckles yelled. "He fell to Earth from ORBIT, for Chaos' sake! There's no WAY he could have survived!"  
  
"How do you know?!" Rouge asked, beginning to yell herself. "He could've used Chaos Control, couldn't he?!"  
  
"No! Sonic had all the emeralds when he came back inside, and neither of them could Chaos Control without one!"  
  
"But we never did find out where the fake emerald went, did we?! Sonic said that the Eclipse Cannon malfunctioned before he threw the fake emerald into it, and the emerald went missing afterwards. Sonic Chaos Controlled with it, so it's entirely possible that Shadow did too!"  
  
Espio faded into sight inbetween the arguers, forcing them apart. "Guys! Guys! Calm down already!"  
  
Rouge blinked as she shifted her attention to the purple chameleon. "Who're you?"  
  
"A friend." Espio replied shortly. "Now both of you, knock it off!"  
  
Knux forced his voice into a calmer tone before speaking again. "He didn't survive, Rouge. You found somebody else's shoes." He picked up the dropped wreckage and tossed it back to the bat. "Stop deceiving yourself. It'll make your life a lot easier, and it'll make you a lot more tolerable. C'mon, Espio. We're heading back."  
  
Rouge gritted her teeth angrily and yelled after their retreating backs. "You know what your problem is? You're too dang pessimistic, that's what!" She looked down at the shoe cradled in her hands, and her expression softened.  
  
"Shadow..." She whispered. "I hope you're still alive." Slowly she turned, spread her wings, and flew away in the opposite direction that Knuckles had departed from.  
  
"Please come back..." 


	3. Chapter 3 Rescue

What If.....Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?  
  
A Fanfiction by Stoney  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Howdy-doodley-doo! Chapter three has (finally) arrived, and there was much rejoicing.....  
  
Audience: (Dully) Yay.  
  
Stoney: I can tell that you guys are all bloody impatient to get on with the story, so let's st--hey! Sonic, what are you doing?! Stop it! Let go of me! Ow, that hurts! Knock it off!  
  
Sonic: (in a deep, echoing, out-of-character voice) Silence, fool! You must PAY for not updating for so long! I hereby banish you to ETERNAL PAIN AND TORMENT!!  
  
(Sonic drags Stoney over to a blood-red door and opens it to reveal darkness beyond)  
  
Stoney: OH, NO! Not in THERE! Don't throw me in there, please! No! NO! NOOOOOO!!! (gets thrown inside)  
  
Knuckles: Yikes, Sonic. What's in that room, anyway?  
  
Sonic: (slams the door shut and starts talking in his normal voice) I threw him into the Torture Room of Internet Pop-Up Windows.  
  
Knuckles: (gasps) No way! That's just cruel, man!  
  
(muffled screams of terror can be heard coming from the other side of the door, along with the sounds of someone beating their fists on it frantically)  
  
Stoney: (muffled) LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! I'M SORRY ALREADY, JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT! AAAAAHHHHH!!  
  
Sonic: Yeah, but he deserved it. C'mon Knux, let's get on with the story.  
  
Knuckles: Well, okay.....(walks off with Sonic)  
  
  
  
Chapter III  
  
Rescue  
  
  
  
Amy watched with wide eyes as she saw Metal Sonic march her hero and the paralyzed Tails away through the trees. She'd followed Tails and Sonic in their race, intent on not being left behind again, and had arrived just as the trio started to leave.  
  
Amy recalled one time that she asked around Knothole about Metal Sonic. She had been intrigued by the mysterious robot copy of her favorite hedgehog, and wanted to know more about him. The answers she received weren't pleasant. Sonic himself had given the most detailed description, using longer words than he normally did;  
  
"He's hatred in its purest form, evil incarnate. He'll think nothin' of ripping your throat out if you're even slightly annoying to him. He's an unpredictable, uncontrollable killer, Amy. One minute he might be coldly cordial to ya, and the next he'll be rending you limb from limb. Never, ever trust him. He'll stab you in the back without a thought."  
  
Panic set in. Amy's thoughts sped up frantically. What should she do? What COULD she do?? Sonic was in trouble! She had to help him! Dismally she thought of her only weapon, the Piko-Piko Hammer she'd stolen from Robotnik's Final Egg carrier. Against Mecha, the colossal weapon probably wouldn't do anything more than chip his paint.  
  
She wringed her hands in worry, terrified of what might happen to her beloved Blue Blur. Hysteria was quickly taking over her thoughts as she stood rooted to the spot, torn with indecision. She couldn't just leave Sonic and Tails at the mercy of the robot, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to help them by herself. "I've got to go get the other Freedom Fighters!" She finally decided, before running back the way she had come.  
  
She only hoped she was making the right choice.....  
  
----------  
  
Knuckles tromped through the Great Forest, A scowl marring his features. After leaving Rouge at the lake, his mood had taken a distinct turn for the worse. Espio followed him at a resonable distance, knowing better than to get in Knuckles' way when he was like this.  
  
Espio wondered where they were going. Knuckles seemed to know, as indicated by his sure footsteps. But so far the echidna hadn't mentioned what their destination was.  
  
Summoning up all his courage, Espio decided to venture a question. "Uh.....Knuckles?"  
  
"WHAT." Was the snapped reply.  
  
Espio cringed at the echidna's tone. "Um, where are we going?"  
  
Knuckles didn't answer, but instead slammed his fist into a nearby tree. Noticing how the action made him feel slightly better, he hit the tree again, imagining that the bark had Robotnik's face on it. It wasn't fair! Just as he'd finally began to forget about the whole ARK incident and the painful memories that came with it, that lousy bat had to remind him about it all over again. He hit the tree again, leaving another pair of gaping holes in its' trunk. Forgetting about everything else except venting his anger, he began pummeling the tree over and over again, growling and snarling at it.  
  
Finally Knux paused to rest a moment. The tree's surface was marred by craters and holes, leaking sticky green sap down its disfigured side. Knuckles' imagination suddenly conjured up a disturbing image that replaced the holes with flesh wounds, and the sap with blood.....  
  
Knuckles shook his head to ward off the frightening visions. His common sense returned to him, making him feel revulsion as he realized what he'd done. Turning away from the mangled tree to continue walking on the path, he finally answered Espio's question. "We're going to Knothole. They're the closest place I can think of that has a teleporter we can use to get back to the island."  
  
"Oh, okay." Espio replied as he wondered slightly at Knuckles' sudden outburst. Why had the echidna reacted like that when he'd asked his question? Did it have something to do with what Rouge had told them? He eyed the remains of the tree with more than a tiny bit of fear. He hoped Knux would never do that to him.....  
  
Espio finally gave up on trying to think about it. Maybe Knuckles would tell him later when they got back to Angel Island. Meanwhile, they were getting pretty close to Knothole, and the path abruptly ended a few feet ahead. Putting off his thoughts until later, Espio started concentrating on helping Knuckles work his way through the natural obstacles in front of them.  
  
----------  
  
"Hey Antoine, could you help me with these?" Rotor wheezed, his face blocked by the several cardboard boxes he was carrying.  
  
The heavily accented reply came at once. "Oui, Monseiur Rotair." Immediately afterward a couple brown hands relieved the walrus of several boxes. "Sacre Bleu!" Antoine yelped as the weight of the boxes nearly made him fall over. "Whatz een zees?! Bricks?"  
  
Rotor stood up straighter and managed to free one hand long enough to wipe some sweat off his forehead. "Naw, they're just some fireworks we're gonna use tonight when it gets dark. We've got several of them that need to be carried out to the launch site."  
  
Antoine hefted up the box with a grunt. "Wondairful."  
  
"Here, I'll show you where they go." Rotor started walking towards one of several hover transports that floated silently in the middle of Knothole. The vehicle was similar to a semi truck minus wheels, and a large cargo area was attached to its back. The doors to this cargo area had already been opened, and within were other boxes similar to those that Rotor and Antoine carried.  
  
Rotor heaved his box up on top of the rest, then turned to help Antoine with his. They leaned against the stack afterward, Rotor taking off his cap and using it to fan himself. It'd been a busy afternoon.  
  
The entire village of Knothole had been preparing for the journey out to the Great Unknown that night for the Day of Independence celebration. The cargo transports had been loaned to them by a moving company in Sapphire City, and since noon they'd been working nonstop to pack various supplies into them. By now, the last of the supplies were being loaded, and the time was nearing when the villagers would pile into various hovercars and drive out to the party's location. Rotor was privately thankful; he didn't mind work, but today had been particularly stressful on him and he needed a break.  
  
Antoine hadn't fared much better. Sally had put him in charge of taking inventory, and he was feeling mentally exhausted. Both were looking forward to the party itself, when all of them would have a chance to relax.  
  
Sally approached the two, a slightly worried look on her face. Antoine suspected she had another task for them to do, but instead her request was entirely different.  
  
"Have either of you two seen Sonic, Tails, or Amy?" She asked when she was near enough.  
  
Rotor blinked, then thought back over what he'd seen that day. "Nope." He finally shook his head at last. "Not since lunch, at least." He grew slightly concerned. "Why, is something wrong?"  
  
Sally seemed to grow more agitated. "They were supposed to come back to help us pack, but nobody's seen them all afternoon. It's almost time for us to leave, but they still haven't returned! Where are they?"  
  
Rotor rubbed one of his tusks thoughtfully. "I.....don't know, Princess." He sighed at last. "Do you think we should go looking for them?"  
  
"I--"  
  
Sally was interrupted as something slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Sally tumbled forward, a ruffled and dizzy pink hedgehog landing on top of her.  
  
Sally pushed her off and stood up. "Hey, watch where you're....." She began before she realized who she was talking to. Her eyes widened. "Amy?! Is that you?!?"  
  
Normally stylish and neat, Amy Rose was now hardly recognizable. Numerous cuts and wounds marred her arms from where she'd run through prickly bushes in her mad dash through the forest. Her head was bruised and battered, and Sally could see the beginnings of a black eye starting to form. Her clothes were the worst; torn and tattered in her haste to make it back to the village.  
  
"Owchies." Amy whimpered, holding her bruised head where it had collided with Sally. "Who put that brick wall there.....?"  
  
Sally spun around and seized the arm of a passing villager. "Quick! Alert Dr. Quack, it's an emergency! Please!" The surprised villager nodded once before she released his arm and he ran off.  
  
"Sonic....." Amy passed out, exhaustion finally catching up with her.  
  
----------  
  
Sonic tumbled to the floor of the chamber, and the door slammed shut behind him. He was instantly on his feet, pounding on the glass and staring around helplessly. "You can't do this!" he shouted, his voice muffled and dimmed by the glass tube around him.  
  
Robotnik and Metal Sonic stood at the machine's control console across the room. The robot was too busy working the many switches, dials, and buttons to respond, but Robotnik looked up at his adversary with a sneer. "Ha, hedgehog! Who's going to stop me? Your pitiful friends? They don't even know you've been captured, and your fox friend is still in my custody."  
  
Sonic let his hands slide down the side of the tube and stepped back. He looked up at the white lens above him which made up the ceiling of the container. Two small, steel cylinders stuck out of it. Although Sonic couldn't see them from his viewpoint, a couple steel pipes were connected to the cylinders. These pipes ran up along the wall of the laboratory and disappeared into the ceiling, possibly meant to release some sort of gas into the container.  
  
The thought sent a stab of fear through Sonic's normally bold heart. He hurled himself against the glass, hoping against hope it would break. But of course it didn't. All that happened was he bruised his arms and legs and gave Robotnik a good laugh.  
  
A sickening metallic hum came on, making the lens glow a bright, cold blue. The soft hiss of air was heard as a green-tainted cloud began to invade the small space inside the chamber. Sonic began to hyperventilate, gasping with terror. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, he couldn't even defend himself. He was trapped in three enclosed feet with a deadly gas that would most certainly kill him. He pressed himself against the glass, trying to avoid the cloud, even though he knew very well he could not.  
  
The noise increased, and the cloud surrounded him like a thick fog. Sonic tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but his lungs eventually gave out and he was forced to inhale. Sonic made a disgusted face--the gas had an acrid, foul taste to it that burned in the back of his throat. Without warning he went into a coughing fit, his body rejecting the foreign substance in the only way it could. He held his aching stomach and leaned heavily against the glass, desperately trying to stop his wild coughing.  
  
The chemical began to exert its influence over him. He felt his muscles slowly relax, and his head slumped forward on his chest. He hung there a moment, fighting the pull, then lost. He fell to his knees in the center of the chamber. Nausea overwhelmed him-he closed his eyes and held his head. The heat and light from the lens engulfed him. He collapsed onto his side, unconsciously going into the fetal position as he did so. It was too bright- -far too bright. It hurt. He ached all over, as if with the flu.  
  
He opened his eyes, forced them open. He pulled one curled fist from his forehead and opened it. What would happen to him? Would the deadly chemical eat away at his flesh, or would it destroy him from the inside somehow? He could feel the toxins flowing through his air pathways like a poison, traveling towards his brain. He fought it, trying to block it out, trying to squelch the intruding particles. When would the gas start it's fatal work? And what would happen when it did so?  
  
The gas reached his central nervous system, and darkness settled over Sonic's eyes like a curtain. He struggled and fought blindly, like an animal in a trap. Dimly his vision returned. As if from a great distance, he was aware of writhing and striking his head on the glass, over and over. The pain was overwhelming. His muscles jerked spasmodically, making him look like he was having some sort of seizure. His breaths began to come in shorter and shorter gasps.  
  
One hand hit something hard and sharp. Something on the floor. He looked down, expecting to see some horrible disfiguration on his limb, but instead saw a metal panel. One corner of the plating had come loose from the rest of the floor and was sticking up at an angle, jabbing him. In the small space that Sonic could see underneath the panel, circuitry and wires were visible.  
  
Somehow, what remained of Sonic's scattered thoughts focused enough to get an idea. He struggled to move his twitching arm, feeling as if he were lifting heavy weights instead of his hands. The gas was starting to take over, and his vision began to dim again. With all the failing strength he could still muster, he worked his hand underneath the panel. His groping fingers encountered several wires, and he grabbed some. Fighting the gas's effects long enough to summon one last surge of strength, he pulled as hard as he could, ripping them out with a snap.  
  
Two things happened simultaneously: Metal Sonic suddenly yelled out "Malfunction!", and Sonic was violently shocked with a large dose of electricity. He'd apparently damaged something vital--the pain he'd felt beforehand paled in comparison to the agony that surged through him now. He was jerked erect from the force of the current, muscles locked, unable to let go.  
  
Alarms began to blare throughout the laboratory. Robotnik roared in confusion as the machinery connected to the experimental tube Sonic was in began to expel smoke into the room. He turned to Metal Sonic, who was frantically working to shut off the power.  
  
"What's going ON?!" Robotnik bellowed. "WHAT HAPPENED?!?"  
  
Metal Sonic spoke quickly while he worked. If he had been organic, he would have sweatdropped. "The main power supply has been damaged! The device is overloading!" One of the panels caught fire, and Mecha yelled in surprise. More smoke clouded the area.  
  
"Shut it off!" Robotnik ordered with a cough, waving his hands to clear the air.  
  
"I'm trying!" Mecha snapped back, while spraying the flames with a fire- retarding chemical from a nozzle in his arm. "It isn't responding to my commands!"  
  
Robotnik ran over to another panel and pressed down on a button. "SWATbot repair crews, come to the main laboratory immediately!" He spoke into an intercom. "And bring flame-retardants with you!" He added as an afterthought.  
  
The smoke thickened. Robotnik turned away from the panel and struggled to breathe. It almost felt as if his nose and mouth were padded with cotton; difficult to draw in a breath. He sank to his knees, his lungs screaming for the precious oxygen which the smoke denied him. He began coughing violently. Vaguely he remembered the emergency gas mask he'd attached to his arm before the experiment. If he could get it on, he could breathe again. Robotnik began to unhook the mask, his movements slow and sluggish. Halfway through the action his body went slack as strength left him. He collapsed, the world fading to black before his eyes.  
  
Metal Sonic knew nothing of Robotnik's predicament. The controls he stood in front of sparked and crackled dangerously, light flashing through the cracks in-between their plating. Mecha tried to manipulate a switch and was awarded with tendrils of blue lightning shooting out of the console onto his body, attracted by the extra metal he contained. The batteries that provided his own small power supply immediately overloaded, shorting out with a sharp crackle. Mecha gave a mechanical scream of pain before he was hurled, charred and smoking, past Robotnik's body and into the room's opposite wall.  
  
The power surge in the experimental tube's machinery reached critical levels. Finally, it became too much for them to handle.  
  
The machine exploded.  
  
----------  
  
"So that's the plan. Everyone got it?"  
  
Sally grimly looked around the table at the faces there. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and herself had all gotten together in the Conference Hut for an emergency meeting. Amy had woken up and told them her alarming news, and now they'd finished discussing a rescue plan. Amy had begged with them to let her be a part of the plan, wanting to help Sonic in any way possible. But Dr. Quack had been adamant in insisting she rest before doing anything else, so she eventually gave in.  
  
Sally's question was met with affirmative nods from the rest of the group. Sally stood up with a nod of her own. "Then let's go." She didn't give any sort of prep talk, nor did she voice any witticisms like 'Let's do it to it!'; She was far too worried about Sonic to do much of that at this point.  
  
As the group walked out of the hut towards Knothole's entrance, they were met by Knuckles and Espio in the village square. "Hey guys!" Knuckles waved at them as he approached. "Could I use your teleporter to get back to Angel Island? I had to come down here for some business, but now I've gotta get back to the Master Emerald."  
  
Sally nodded at him, her expression still grim with worry. "Sure, but you'll have to wait for us to get back before any of us can operate it." Using teleporters usually required two people: one to operate the controls for the destination and such, and the other to do the physical act of teleporting.  
  
Knuckles arched an eyebrow, noticing the expressions on everyone's faces. "Why, where are you going?"  
  
"Robotropolis. Sonic's been captured." Rotor replied shortly.  
  
Knuckles' eyes widened. "Crap. That guy gets into the worst fixes, doesn't he? Listen, I'll help ya rescue him. Just let me radio the Chaotix to let them know I'll be gone a bit longer than usual. Espio," He added while turning to his chameleon friend, "you can come too if you like."  
  
Espio shrugged. "Okay, sure."  
  
Sally smiled gratefully at them both. "You really don't have to do this for us, you know."  
  
Knux grinned back. "I know." Then he shrugged. "Since I'm stuck here anyway until you guys get back, I might as well help out." He and Espio jogged off to the Communications Hut to radio their teammates on the Island, with the latter calling back at the group over his shoulder. "We'll follow and meet you guys there! Just hurry and get going, Sonic needs our help!"  
  
"Allright! Let's go, y'all!" Bunnie cheered. The five raced away to the entrance, spirits lifted knowing that reenforcements were on the way.  
  
----------  
  
Robotnik awoke to see repair robots spraying foam on the several fires raging around the laboratory. The ventilation fans had finally started working, pumping the smoke out of the room through the air vents in the lab's ceiling. He slowly got to his feet, noticing as he did the many cuts and embedded glass shards in his rotund body. The alarms had stopped.  
  
Robotnik glanced at the area where his machine had once been and saw nothing more than some bits and pieces of smoking rubble. he noticed that the tubes which had pumped his experimental compound into the chamber had been ruptured, and one of them was leaking out a thin trail of the green cloud. Immediately he unhooked the portable gas mask from his metal arm and put it on. He hoped he had not inhaled any of the compound while he'd been knocked out.  
  
Turning his head to scan the room, Robotnik gritted his teeth as he saw the destroyed state that the rest of his lab was in. The explosion had wiped out a good half of his other equipment in the room; vials containing mysterious liquids had fallen on the floor and smashed, their contents spilling out and mixing into an unidentifiable puddle. Computer terminals were burnt to nothing more than smoking shells, their internal wiring fried to a crisp. Tables lay on their sides against the walls, with messy tangles of plastic tubes next to them. The floor was littered with glass shards and metal fragments, completing the chaotic atmosphere.  
  
Turning around in a circle, Robotnik scanned the room for Sonic and Mecha. Sonic lay in a heap in one of the corners, his quills burned black at the edges. It was a miracle he was still in one piece. Metal Sonic was lying within a good-sized indentation in the wall, shorted out and lifeless. The damage was repairable, thankfully, but it would be a long time before the robot was back to peak performance again.  
  
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!" Robotnik screamed to the heavens while waving his fists in the air. He'd been so close to winning, but Sonic had still managed to mess everything up! Now his laboratory was ruined, Mecha was in critical condition, and he himself might have accidentally become a part of his own experiment with exposure to the gas. It just wasn't fair!  
  
A spasm of pain reminded Robotnik of his own injuries. Snarling in fury, he ordered a couple of the SWATbots to bring Mecha to the Repair Bay area and another pair to take Sonic back to the prisons. He then hobbled out of the room after them, heading towards the Medical Ward.  
  
----------  
  
Tails sat in a corner of his cell and cried.  
  
He cried and cried some more, unable to control the tears that ran unchecked down his face. They'd dragged him to the prisons, released him from Mecha's force field and dumped him in a cell before leading Sonic away, most likely to be roboticized.  
  
Tails didn't know what to do. He'd never felt more scared in his entire life. Sure, he'd been captured with Sonic before now, but they'd always been broken out at the last minute. This time, Robotnik was acting smart and not wasting any time before he did whatever he was going to do to Sonic. Tails doubted that his blue hero would ever be rescued in time. All hope seemed lost.  
  
Tails pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped an arm around them, while using the other to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. But the waterworks refused to stop. Sobs shook his small body as he wondered what would happen to him now. Would he and Sonic just become another couple robots under Robotnik's control? He didn't think he'd be able to withstand the possibility that he would. He buried his face in his arms and continued to cry.  
  
A screech of rusty metal told him that someone had opened the door to the prisons. Tails didn't bother to get up, knowing that the door was only opened when a new prisoner was brought in, or when SWATbots had come to take a prisoner to the Roboticizer. He did, however, quiet his crying slightly so he could hear what was going on.  
  
The clanking of robotic feet passed by his cell. Tails buried his face further into his arms, praying they hadn't come for him.  
  
They didn't. Another rusty squeak indicated that the robots had opened the cell next to his. Tails heard a thump as something hit the floor of the cell, and the clanking receded as the SWATbots walked away. Screech, the prison door opened and closed again.  
  
Silence.  
  
Time passed, and Tails' river of tears eventually thinned, then stopped. The fox sat still, wondering about the new prisoner that had just been brought in. Whoever it was, it hadn't made a sound for a long time. After a few more minutes of no noise coming from the new prisoner, Tails' curiosity got the better of him. He moved to the front of his cell and stuck his head in between two of the bars to see into the next cell over. Unfortunately, the cell was covered by heavy shadows and Tails couldn't see a thing. Sighing in disappointment, Tails sat down next to the bars, tails drooping.  
  
CLANG!  
  
The sound echoed down the hallway and made Tails' head snap up in alarm. What was that? His curiosity renewed, Tails leaped to his feet and peered out through the bars at the hallway beyond.  
  
----------  
  
"Antoine!" Sally furiously whispered. The coyote had fallen out of the ventilation duct and had forgotten to cushion his landing by rolling. Because of that, his boots had hit the steel floor noisily.  
  
Antoine looked up at Sally sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, moi Prinzess."  
  
Sally fell out and rolled, then gave Antoine an irritated look when she stood up. She sighed. "C'mon, let's just go." She began to trot off down the hallway, Antoine following meekly behind her.  
  
Sally checked the cells as they passed by them, but they were all empty. That is, all of them except for the one containing the orange fox who called out their names joyously as they approached.  
  
Sally quickly hurried up to Tails and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Tails, there you are!" She whispered tearfully. Tails gagged at her tight hold.  
  
"Aunt.....Sally.....I can't.....breathe....."  
  
"Oops, sorry....." Sally broke the embrace, allowing Tails air once more. After catching his breath, Tails started to quickly tell Sally about how they'd been captured. He finished with, "They've taken Sonic away, Aunt Sally! We have to get him back!"  
  
"Right." Sally thought a moment. "But first we need to get you out of here." She stood back and surveyed the cell Tails was in. It was locked with an old-fashioned padlock, large and heavy with a small keyhole in the top. The little light that illuminated the area gleamed off its black surface dully.  
  
Tails tried shaking each of the bars, but he already knew that none of them were loose. Sally eventually sighed and scratched her head in puzzlement. "I don't know how we're gonna get you out, Tails. We'd need someone really strong to break this lock, and Nicole doesn't work on non-electronic locks." Her face suddenly brightened as an idea occurred to her. "Hang on, I think I know what to do!" She unhooked a small wavelength radio from her vest and turned it on. Pressing down on the 'talk' button, she spoke into its receiver.  
  
"Hey Bunnie, are you there? Can you hear me?"  
  
"Shore 'nuff! What's up, Sally-girl?" Was the reply.  
  
"We need your help to break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"  
  
Silence was the only answer to this question for several minutes. Just when Sally was beginning to wonder whether Bunnie's radio had malfunctioned, the rabbit spoke up again. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"  
  
"Prison block 3-B, section 12." Sally replied, relieved. "Hurry, please. Sally out."  
  
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."  
  
----------  
  
He watched them from underneath an overhang of rusted steel pipes that stuck out from a huge pile of trash. They couldn't see him even if they wanted to--he was an expert at hiding in shadows, and knew how to avoid being seen. You learn a few good tricks when you've been hunted your entire life, he thought bitterly.  
  
The rabbit with steel limbs moved into the center of his vision, blasting away waves of robot soldiers using a gun installed in that robot arm of hers. For a few minutes he watched her go to work demolishing the survivors of her initial attack. She obviously knew some form of Martial-Arts, considering the precise kicking/punching maneuvers she used. Idly he wondered how her limbs had gotten that way. Robotization? Perhaps--but if that were the case, why wasn't she fully roboticized?  
  
Another voice started speaking to the rabbit. After a few moments, he realized it was coming from a small radio attached to her waist. Intrigued, he listened in on the conversation.  
  
".....break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"  
  
The rabbit looked around for a few minutes while dodging laser-fire from the robots. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"  
  
"Prison block 3-B, section 12. Hurry, please. Sally out."  
  
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."  
  
A flash of motion from off to the left diverted his attention. He looked in that direction in time to spot a bright red echidna smashing all the other surviving robots to pieces with his huge fists. Although the rabbit was unfamiliar to him, he recognized the echidna instantly.  
  
He narrowed his eyes. 'What's Knuckles doing HERE?' He wondered.  
  
Little did he know that there was someone who was even better at hiding than he was prowling the area that day.  
  
He was very startled when he heard a voice right next to him speak up. "Who are you?"  
  
He jumped a little and turned, not expecting to have been seen. But there was nobody there. He immediately leaped into a spin kick aimed behind him, thinking the speaker had circled around to attack from behind. But his foot only connected with air.  
  
He looked around in confusion, looking for the person who had spoken and finding no one.  
  
"I'll say it again," The voice spoke in his ear. "Who are you?"  
  
His fist shot out in a devastating backhand that apparently missed. Someone or something chuckled from off to his left, and he kicked blindly in that direction. "That won't exactly work." The Thing snickered, this time from above him.  
  
He looked around wildly, almost frightened that he was facing an invisible opponent. "Where are you?" He whispered.  
  
"Now why should I answer that?" The Thing replied from somewhere in front of him. "You'd just attack me, wouldn't you? I tell you what. If you tell me who you are and what you're doing here, I'll show myself to you."  
  
Then he realized something. Why was he bothering with this person? He could just run away, couldn't he? "Forget you." He growled before taking off. Immediately he collided with something and knocked it down, throwing them both to the ground. A muffled "Oof!" indicated that he'd finally hit the Thing that had been speaking to him.  
  
He blinked. It seemed solid enough, even if he couldn't see it. Quick as a flash, he had his arm around what he thought was its throat and squeezed, choking it. "What are you?" He hissed.  
  
The Thing gave a choked reply before fading into sight before his eyes. His eyes widened as a purple chameleon appeared out of nowhere before him. "My...name is......Espio......" The chameleon coughed.  
  
He blinked and released Espio immediately, standing up in surprise. The chameleon gasped for air gratefully and lay on the ground for a few seconds as he caught his breath. After a few moments he sat up to catch sight of his attacker, but the being was gone.  
  
----------  
  
"Okay Bunnie, let 'er rip!"  
  
This exclamation was followed shortly afterward by a laser-blast vaporising the padlock to Tails' cell. Sally rushed forward and opened the door with a rusty screech, and embraced Tails when he practically leapt out into her arms. Sally looked up at Bunnie and Antoine after a few moments. "Okay," She began, "now we need to find out where they're holding Sonic."  
  
"But Aunt Sally! They took Sonic out of the prisons! He's not here!"  
  
This statement Surprised Sally so much that she let go of Tails and stepped back in shock. "What?? Oh, no! We've got to hurry, they might already be taking him to the roboticizer!" Without waiting for the others, she started running towards the cell block entrance.  
  
"Hey! Sally-girl, wait up a sec!" Bunnie yelled as she, Antoine and Tails chased after the Princess.  
  
----------  
  
He slowly glanced out of the vent at the area around him. Nothing ususual met his eyes. Deciding this was a good sign, he dropped out of the vent to the ground, hardly making a noise upon landing.  
  
Again he paused, looking around slowly from left to right, keen ears straining for the slightest hint of a footstep. No sounds were heard, so he finally relaxed and glanced around casually. That name he'd overheard in the rabbit's conversation.....it couldn't be the same Sonic he knew, could it?  
  
He had to find out. Walking slowly down the cell block, he casually glanced through the bars in the cells. No prisoners met his eyes. Either they were all in a different cell block, or Robotnik had already roboticized them all. He could care less. All that mattered was finding out whether the same Sonic he was thinking of was here or not.....  
  
Something caught his eye. Farther down the hallway, the door to a single cell had been left wide open. He snorted. Was Robotnik raised in a barn or something? Didn't he have enough sense to close doors anymore? Shaking his head in mild disgust, he continued on past the door.  
  
The next cell was heavily shadowed, making it difficult to see into. But somehow, he managed to make out the shape lying on its floor just fine. He strode to the front of the cell and grasped a couple bars. He stared at the shape for a few moments, his eyes sparkling with some hidden emotion. "So it WAS you they were talking about." He muttered softly. The tiniest hint of a smile crept into his expression. "Good to see you again, blue hedgehog."  
  
He stepped back and gave the bars a cursory glance, folding his arms as he pondered how he would get Sonic out of that cell. For indeed, that was just what he planned to do.  
  
After a moment of consideration, he strode up to the bars and gave each of them a firm yank, testing them for weaknesses. To his sinister delight he found one-a loose bar. With a moment's pause and a muffled grunt, he jerked the metal pole out of the door, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter.  
  
He stepped easily through the now-sizable gap between the bars, and gingerly picked up the battered blue form that still lay crumpled inside. Getting back out through the hole was just as easy, although he was hindered a bit by having to carry Sonic over his shoulder.  
  
Still, he managed. Looking up and down the hallway again, he noted with suspicion the lack of guards stationed here. It seemed very odd to him that Robotnik would leave someone like Sonic unguarded. Of course, it was possible that all the guards had been called away to deal with that rabbit and Knuckles, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of foreboding sweep over him. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.  
  
Still, he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the expression went. Walking easily back down the corridor to the ventilation shaft he'd used, he heaved Sonic up and into it before clambering up into the space himself. If he hurried, he could get out of here before anything else happened.  
  
He clamped the vent's grate back into place, then grabbed Sonic's inert form and crawled away into the labyrinth of the fortress's circulatory system.  
  
Silence descended upon the prison block, now empty save a single metal bar on the floor.  
  
----------  
  
"Sally!"  
  
The voice spoke up with such urgency in its tone that Sally nearly fell over in mid-stride. Luckily, she managed to regain her balance and slow down enough to where she could activate her radio and answer the summons. "What is it, Doctor Quack?"  
  
"Sally, you're not going to believe this.....I was just going to the Medical Hut to check up on some last-minute paperwork, and guess who I found on the front step? Wait, don't try answering, I'll tell you: It was Sonic!"  
  
Sally gaped at the radio in complete disbelief. The only reply she could stutter out was: "W-what??"  
  
"Get back here to Knothole, NOW! I'll tell you more once you're here." The comm suddenly went silent, leaving a stunned Sally Acorn standing in the hallways of Robotnik's fortress.  
  
Tails, Bunnie and Antoine finally caught up with the Princess, with Bunnie glaring daggers at her. "Sally-girl, what was the meanin' of ya'll just gettin' up and runnin' away lahk that?!"  
  
"Sonic's.....been rescued." Sally replied, barely hearing Bunnie's reprimanding words.  
  
That stopped Bunnie's tirade before it even began. "WHAT?!"  
  
"We've got to get back to Knothole!" Sally answered, finally coming out of her daze. "Quick, let's radio Knuckles and tell him we're moving out!" She dashed off down the hallway again, much to Bunnie's dismay.  
  
"Sally-girl!!" Bunnie yelled futilely after her. "Dangit, why can't she just wait up?"  
  
----------  
  
Only twenty feet away from where Espio had found the mysterious newcomer, Knuckles ran through the SWATbot ranks like a hot knife through butter, smashing anything that moved. He was having a blast. Although guarding the Master Emerald was his job, it got awfully boring. A little action was just what he needed, and he was enjoying every moment of this.  
  
One SWATbot shot its lasers at him and almost hit, but Knux had ducked and rolled away before the laser should have done so. He came to his feet in front of the robot that had fired and punched his fist straight through its head, leaving a gaping hole which spat circuitry and sparks.  
  
Knux grinned as the robot wobbled and fell to the ground in pieces. Sonic had told him several times about how much fun he'd had on some of his raids in Robotropolis.....and now Knux understood why.  
  
Suddenly, his radio started beeping, recieving an incoming signal.....  
  
----------  
  
"Knuckles!" Sally barked into her small shortwave radio. "Knux, do you copy?"  
  
The echidna's voice came through. "Yeah, what is it?"  
  
"We're heading back to Knothole. Mission accomplished." Sally could hardly believe the words, even as she said them.  
  
"Gotcha. I'll meet up with you guys in a sec."  
  
Sally turned the radio off and glanced behind her, to find that the others had caught up with her again. Bunnie looked like she had a lot to say to Sally, but couldn't find the words to say it with. Antoine just looked like she had when she'd first recieved the news: stunned. Then Sally looked down at Tails, to see the little fox crying with relief that Sonic was okay. Sally knealt down and hugged him tightly, whispering comforting words in Tails' ear as the young fox cried on her shoulder. "Ssh, there there, Tails.....it'll be okay.....Sonic'll be alright, he's safe now.....you don't have to worry.....it's okay....." Tails nodded at her comforting words, but continued to release all the pent-up emotion he'd kept bottled up since they'd broken him out.  
  
Finally Sally released the embrace and stood up, a little teary-eyed herself. She turned to the two other Freedom Fighers there and spoke only two words. "Let's go."  
  
The rest of the mission was rather uneventful. Knuckles arrived at the prisons through the route Sally and Antoine had used, found Sally and the others, and helped them climb back out. When they arrived outside they met up with Espio and Rotor, and all of them high-tailed it back to Knothole.  
  
----------  
  
Sonic came to quite some time later. Odd, he didn't just wake up like he normally did--first he heard something beeping, then a voice in his head saying, "Main systems online. Loading secondary systems." His eyes opened and he sat up to look at where he was.  
  
Sonic blinked. What was wrong with his vision? Everything around him looked like images from a computer screen. He turned his head from side to side, taking in his location. It looked like he was still somewhere in Robotnik's lab--the room seemed to have the same dirty, ruined look that the rest of the city did.  
  
----------  
  
Mecha woke up and opened his eyes. He didn't feel himself come online; just blink, and he was staring at a wooden ceiling. Pain lashed through his body, making him mentally wince. Slowly he sat up, noticing the abscence of the battery recharger's familiar hum. Mecha closed his eyes and opened them again. For some reason, his view seemed sharper, more enhanced than usual. He looked around. The walls of the room he was in seemed to be made of some sort of clay. A window above his head allowed bright, unobstructed sunlight to enter the area. Underneath him was a cushioned bed, and his head had been propped up by several pillows.  
  
Staring around at their unfamiliar surroundings, Mecha and Sonic spoke at the same time.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stoney: What? The chapter's over already?! Nooo!  
  
Cliffhangers are nice. I like cliffhangers. They taste yummy. Have no fear, my next chapter is nearly complete! Soon you will find out just WHAT our favorite hedgehogs think of their new predictament! Hopefully, it won't take me nearly as long to update the next chapter.....[darn Document Manager on this site, it makes me so mad.....]  
  
You might notice that a little bit of this chapter borrows from a teaser written by NetRaptor as part of her Fanfiction "Complete the Story" contest. This is because I had started this fic with the intention of entering it in the contest, but before I could finish it the contest ended. Since then, I have decided to simply post it as a new fanfic and have resumed writing it. PLEASE don't go flaming me and telling me that I'm stealing from NetRaptor intentionally, because I'm not. Thanks for understanding!  
  
As an added bonus, I've included an extra-special, all-natural, 100% whole- grain preview of the next chapter below! Aren't I nice?  
  
Sonic: Hey! How'd you get out of the Torture Room?!  
  
Stoney: Uh, oh, gotta run! "till next chapter, toodles! (gets chased offscreen by Sonic)  
  
  
  
  
  
~PREVIEW! YAY!~  
  
  
  
His hands were completely encased in metal.  
  
Sonic stopped thinking entirely. He moved his hands, and the metal abominations in front of him moved accordingly. He mentally ordered his hands to snap their fingers, and the metal hands did so with a sharp clank Each finger was a conical metal spike that somehow retained enough flexibiliy to bend at the joints. The palm was nothing more than a thick metal plate, shaped slightly rectangular and painted a dull yellow.  
  
Sonic's thoughts resumed full force, and terror swept through him. He had been roboticized. Somehow, he just knew it. He was now a robot. That tube they'd put him in must've been some modified version of the Roboticizer. Sonic didn't doubt it for a second.  
  
Sonic cradled his head in his disfigured hands for a few moments before a thought occurred to him. If he'd been roboticized, then how come he'd retained his free will?  
  
Hope surged through him. Maybe the roboticizer had messed up because of what he'd done to it, and it hadn't been able to enslave his mind! If that was the case, Robotnik had made an even greater mistake than he'd realized- Sonic now had a durable metal body and amazing new strength, to boot. He could trash Robotnik's fortress easily in this form, he realized.  
  
He looked around again. Some sort of power cord was connected to his stomach. The cord led over to a small generator humming nearby. He had been laying down flat on a metal table, cluttered with parts of other machines and several power tools. A flat piece of metal that lay near his hands had been polished so much that it reflected images like a mirror. Sonic picked it up and tilted it so it would reveal his face, dreading what he would see.  
  
Staring back at Sonic from within the reflection were the blood-red pupils of Mecha. 


	4. Chapter 4 Realizations

What If.....Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?  
  
A Fanfiction by Stoney

  
  
THE COPYRIGHT:  
  
"Okay, class!" Professor Gerald barked out, punctuating the exclamation with a hearty slap of a ruler on his desk. Many of the people in the room simultaneously jumped a little in their seats, startled at the loud sound this caused. The Professor didn't seem to notice, continuing as if nothing had happened.  
  
"I know you guys have had a difficult time getting to school this morning." Gerald began, looking around at the half-drowned students and sparing a sideways glance outside his window at the raging tempest taking place, "...but now that you're here we'd better get on with the lesson."  
  
Someone in the back abruptly sneezed twice. "Bless you, 'Twan." The Professor remarked in stride, turning to the long blackboard set up at the front of the room. Picking up a worn stub of chalk, he set to work writing out the subject of today's lesson. "Now, today we'll be studying copyrights and their effect on literature. Everyone open your books, please."  
  
There was a great rustling and shuffling throughout the room as everyone unzipped their backpacks and removed identical copies of a large, thick textbook. On the covers shone the same identical title; 'Stuff Nobody Cares About, Vol. 1' by Sou Watt.  
  
Professor Gerald, who'd gotten out his own copy and begun flipping through it, then instructed everyone to turn to page 107 and get out some paper to copy down notes. Most of the students immediately obeyed, except for one. The Professor glanced up and opened his mouth to speak, but paused upon seeing the silent hedgehog sitting in the front row. "Shadow, open your book please." Gerald repeated, a note of sternness in his voice.  
  
The hedgehog didn't move. "Shadow, open your book." The professor again repeated, his voice now cold and commanding.  
  
The hedgehog sneered defiantly, but otherwise made no move to do as was said. "Make me." He retorted in a soft but unwelcoming tone.  
  
The room had dropped to complete silence by now. One of the other students sitting next to Shadow gently nudged him and whispered, "Shadow, please, don't make another scene-"  
  
"Shut up, Amy." Shadow growled, interrupting her. The pink hedgehog to whom he'd spoken paused and gave him a hurt look before dropping silent. Slowly, Gerald moved out from behind his desk, striding up to Shadow's and slamming his ruler down upon it with even more force than he'd used previously.  
  
Again, some of the more startled students in the room jumped slightly. Shadow didn't so much as flinch.  
  
"I will not go through this game with you again, boy." Gerald spoke slowly, his glare hot enough to melt ice. Shadow's eyes flashed angrily at the word 'boy', but otherwise he kept still. "As long as you remain under my supervision," Gerald continued, "you will do as I say. Is that understood?"  
  
Shadow gave a snort of dark amusement. "Yeah, right. I bet you're not even a real teacher."  
  
There was a pause so absolute, it seemed as if the auditory version of a black hole had opened inside the room.  
  
"What!"  
  
"I SAID," Shadow replied while leaning back and clasping his arms behind his head, "that I bet you're not even a real teacher. Where's your credentials, huh?" To the other students in the room, it sounded like Shadow had been waiting a long time to say this, but had refrained from doing so until now. "I bet you don't have any. The school was just desperate for teachers when they hired you. It didn't matter to them if you had a degree as long as you took the job." The scorn in his voice made Gerald's moustache go rigid with rage. "Well? Do you deny it?" Shadow asked gleefully, crossing his arms and smirking. "Do you, Faker?"  
  
Slowly, everyone's eyes turned to watch the Professor's reaction. For a moment he simply stood and regarded Shadow in silence, expression eerily calm. Finally he nodded. "Right, that does it. Stand up, let's go."  
  
"Go? Go where?" Shadow's expression was deceptively innocent.  
  
"To see Principal Acorn. Come on, let's go."  
  
Although his face remained impassive as he stood up, Shadow's fists were clenched so tight that their knuckles were white. "While I'm gone, read pages 107 through 110 in your textbooks." Gerald spoke to the rest of the class as he walked over to the door and opened it, ushering Shadow through. "And no funny business, either! I'll be watching for any."  
  
The door slammed shut with a decisive clang.  
  
The other students in the room silently stared at each other for a few moments afterward, too stunned to speak. One of them, a small, pale human girl sitting in a dark corner, spoke up suddenly. "Poor Shadow."  
  
Her classmates gaped in disbelief. This had to have been the first time she'd spoken all year. She didn't glance up or anything, but continued to gaze sadly at the floor. "He doesn't deserve half of what happens to him. It may look like he's a jerk, but it's just a cover, really."  
  
"How would you know, Maria?" A cobalt blue hedgehog broke in, green eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For all we know, Shadow hardly knows you, and vice versa. You haven't been hanging around with him after school, have you?"  
  
Maria didn't make any movement in response, but the sudden reddening of her face confirmed that the hedgehog had hit the nail on the head. A bright scarlet echidna named Knuckles smirked at him from a couple rows above Maria. "You should talk, Sonic. How come you and Sally always disappear after school without a trace? Where do you go off to, hmmm?"  
  
Sonic went silent instantly, the blush on his face making his blue fur look purple. But his reaction was nothing compared to that of the pink hedgehog Shadow had snapped at earlier; with a sudden screech of outrage, she leaped from her chair and glared daggers at Sonic. "Say WHAT?!"  
  
Knuckles laughed lightly before returning to his reading, deciding he didn't really want to watch what Sonic was about to go through.  
  
Sonic buried his face in his hands. "Why me...?" He asked helplessly before being roughly accosted by the pink hedgehog.  
  
"Why, Sonic? Why does she force you to leave with her? Huh?! Where do you go?!" She burst out.  
  
"Uhhh...I...um..." Sonic was at a complete loss for words. Luckily, he was saved by a white fruit bat bursting into gleeful laughter behind him. The pink hedgehog's glare quickly switched from Sonic to the bat. "What's so funny?!" She demanded angrily.  
  
"It's just...you two!" She giggled, struggling to muffle her laughter with one hand. "You're so ridiculous!" She rolled her eyes, all trace of mirth suddenly vanishing from her complexion and being replaced by annoyance. "I mean, COME ON, Amy! Just tell him you love him and get it over with!" She huffed.  
  
Sonic slowly turned to look at Amy. It wasn't a pretty sight. Her cheeks were even redder than Knuckles' fur, but the rest of her face had gone stark white, eyes bulging and mouth slack. She didn't move.  
  
"Real smooth, Rouge." Knuckles hissed sarcastically at the bat without looking up. "I'm sure she'll be able to confess everything to Sonic now that you've gone and told him for her."  
  
"Uh...Amy?" Sonic asked slowly, reaching out to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"  
  
No reaction. Perplexed, Sonic waved a hand in front of Amy's face. Still nothing. He sighed.  
  
"Great, she's in shock. We might have to carry her out of here now, thanks a lot Rouge."  
  
"Well, it's not like SHE was gonna say anything!" The bat burst out angrily. "Seriously, though! Watching you two is pathetic! I'm sick of watching her struggle to get up enough courage to tell you anything. Just get married and have kids already, you know you want to! Sheesh."  
  
Sonic stood up and turned around to face Rouge so suddenly that he knocked his whole desk over. "SHUT UP!!" He bellowed loudly, eyes blazing with a sudden fury. "Don't you DARE ever say anything like that again! Do you realize that you've probably embarrassed Amy so much that she may never recover? And frankly, I would've MUCH preferred she tell me anything instead of you!"  
  
He breathed heavily for a few moments after his outburst, a vein pulsing visibly in his temple. Then without another word he picked his desk back up, set it on his feet, and slammed himself back down into its seat. Rouge was left speechless in her rage at having been talked to like that, looking like she had a lot to say but not knowing how to say it. Luckily, she never needed to say anything; Professor Gerald re-entered the room at that moment, this time alone.  
  
"Right!" He barked like nothing had happened. "Have you all read the-eh?"  
  
He'd noticed Amy, who had apparently recovered from her shock enough to pass out cold on the floor. Sonic sweatdropped, wondering how he was going to explain this one.  
  
"Uh...she said she was feeling sick, sir." The blue hedgehog invented. "I think she needs to see the nurse..."  
  
"I'll take her," Knuckles volunteered quickly, eager to get Amy out of the room so he could study in peace. Gerald looked at him and slowly nodded.  
  
"Well...okay, then. Off you go."  
  
Knuckles quickly scooped up Amy's unconscious form and slipped out the door. Gerald walked back over to the seat behind his desk and slowly sat down in it, sighing and massaging his forehead.  
  
"Right, well, if there are no more distractions..." He paused, as if expecting some other remarkable happenstance to occur. When none did, he relaxed slightly and continued. "...we shall get on with the lesson. Maria, could you please start us off by reading the paragraph at the top of page 108?"  
  
The pale human girl in the back corner nodded meekly, flipping to the requested page and reading what was written there:  
  
"Sonic the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic, Knuckles the Echidna, Miles 'Tails' Prower, Amy Rose, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and all related characters are copyright to SEGA. Sally Acorn, Rotor, Antoine D' Coolette, Bunnie Rabbot, Snively, and the other Freedom Fighters are copyright to DiC Productions, and/or Archie Comics. All other characters are copyright to their respective owners unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved."

  
  
AUTHOR'S INCOHERENT RAMBLINGS 'N STUFF:  
  
Wow. What a winter! You guys probably wouldn't believe half the stuff I've gone through to get this next chapter to you. Since you probably don't care about it all anyway, I'll just tell you about the foremost disaster and leave it at that.  
  
A major ice storm hit around mid-February, literally freezing solid the city I live in. To make matters worse, as the ice froze, its weight caused every tree branch from here to Florida to fall off, breaking anything they happened to land on--including power lines, cars, houses, and people.  
  
The day after the storm, my front and back yards looked like they were bombed by terrorists. I kid you not.  
  
What followed was a lovely week without heat, electricity or working plumbing as the power companies struggled to get several hundred thousand people's utilities up and running again throughout the city. I happened to be one of the lucky few who were last to be fixed, which meant that pretty much everything in the fridge had become rotten junk and had to be thrown away by the time my appliances started working again.  
  
.....But I digress. The storm also forced school to close for a week, which to me is always a good thing. So, I guess you could say the experience wasn't a total loss. After all, at least the beavers will be happy; there's a nice little pile of lumber for them to use on the curb of every house within eyesight for miles around. Although today as I was walking home from work, I saw several birds making nests inside some of them. I think that's a definite sign they've been there too long, don't you?  
  
Blah blah blah, okay, I think I've said enough now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter. And remember, any questions, comments, recipies, money, or fine jewelry can be sent to my email address at stoney107@yahoo.com. No spammers, please, but you can send me flames if you want; I can use them to melt the ice block around my car.  
  


  
Chapter Four: Realization  
  


  
"What's that, shugah-hog?"  
  
Mecha turned his head in the direction of the new voice. A tan rabbit with three robotic limbs was smiling at him kindly from her position near the door. Slowly, a memory surfaced in Mecha's mind; her name was Bunnie Rabbot.  
  
"I asked..." He suddenly stopped, surprised at his own voice. Gone was the familiar metallic undertone he'd carried his whole life; in its place was a smooth, organic tenor. It seemed new and alien to him, but familiar at the same time...shaking off the rising questions in his mind, he repeated his first inquiry. "I asked, 'What just happened?'"  
  
Bunnie grinned at him and rolled her eyes. "Well, what d'ya think? We came and gaht yah, shugah."  
  
"You...got me?" He repeated slowly, still startled at his new voice. More memories were returning to him...Bunnie was a Freedom Fighter, and had gotten her robot parts from a half-completed roboticization that he'd saved her from..he and Rotor had taken her back to Knothole, where she'd asked Sally to join the Freedom Fighters and had nearly taken his head off when demonstrating her Martial-Arts skills...  
  
Mecha jerked himself violently back to reality. What the--?!? He'd never done any of that! What was happening to him?! His eyes grew wide with sudden panic. "Where am I? What's going on?!" He yelled, lashing out and upsetting the covers that had been carefully laid over him.  
  
Bunnie placed a restraining hand on his shoulder, her other one held up in a calming gesture. "Whoa, take it easy there. Calm dahn, shugah. We went to get y'all from Robahtrop'lis and brought yah back here, thah's all."  
  
Reason and logic rose up through the chaos of Mecha's mind. He suddenly understood; the Freedom Fighters had gone to rescue the hedgehog from his master's city, and had captured him when he was disabled thanks to that failed experiment...  
  
"How long are you planning on keeping me prisoner here?" He asked flatly, eyes burning with contained anger. Bunnie didn't notice; In fact, she did the last thing Mecha expected her to do.  
  
She laughed.  
  
"Oh, come on shugah!" She drawled, covering her mouth to stifle a new batch of giggles. "Ah know yah don't lahk bein' in this here Medical Ward that much, but it'll only be a coup'la days at the most b'fore yer outta here."  
  
Mecha slowly blinked as two words from her sentence registered in his mind. "...Medical Ward?"  
  
The smile melted from Bunnie's face like snow in the sun. She cocked her head to the side slightly and gave Mecha a puzzled stare before answering. "Well, yeah, o' course. Whar else would we put yah?"  
  
Medical Ward. Noun. A repair facility for biological organisms. Mecha knew the definition by heart, but he still had a difficult grasp using it in this particular context. He slowly turned to scan the surroundings again. "I'm in a...Medical Ward?"  
  
Something wasn't right. He glanced at Bunnie again. Why was she treating him in such a friendly manner? He was her enemy, wasn't he? He glanced down at the covers that had been carefully draped over him. Why was he in a Medical Ward instead of a workshop of some sort? For that matter, why had they placed him in a cushioned bed when they knew he could just as well go without it?  
  
Confused, he looked at his hands for an answer. They were clad in snug, clean white gloves. He arched an eyebrow and frowned. Why could he feel every inch of their fabric surface with his hands? Had the Freedom Fighters equipped him with more sensors to help him 'feel'? But more importantly, since when had he worn gloves?  
  
_Always_, his mind seemed to answer. Mecha shook his head again to clear the cobwebs out of his thoughts. Something was definitely wrong around here...  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bunnie looking at him perplexedly, wondering what he was thinking. Slowly, dreading what he might see, Mecha pulled off the glove on his right hand.  
  
Metal Sonic's breath caught in his throat, his face frozen in an almost comical expression of surprise.  
  
The hand's surface didn't glare up at him in a flash of silver. The joints didn't creak slightly as he bent them. His fingers didn't shine with their sharp, conelike surface. In fact, they no longer shined at all.  
  
His hand, once a remarkable conglomeration of circuitry and hinges, was metal no more. Instead, an organic limb of flesh, muscle, and blood stood in its place. The pale tan color of his palm stood out with frightening clarity in his eyes. Tiny wrinkles folded themselves around the joints in his fingers, each of which was soft, round, and fleshy instead of the sharp, pointed talons he'd claimed before.  
  
Mecha didn't even know his jaw had dropped. With a fear borne from panic, he practically ripped the glove off his other hand, hoping that it was normal, that it was still robotic---but it wasn't. The two hands were mirror images of each other. Mecha's breathing began to quicken, his wide eyes snapping back and forth from one hand to the next, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.  
  
"Shugah-hog.....you okay?" Bunnie asked cautiously, wondering why the hedgehog in front of her was staring at his hands like he'd never seen them before. No reply came for a few moments.  
  
"I-I.....I.....I....." Metal stammered, unable to form a sentence past that one word. A deep, dark dread was forming in his mind, which was currently thinking, making connections, and forming a conclusion that shocked him to the core of his being. No, he thought. No, it's impossible. It doesn't make any sense. It can't be...  
  
The covers flew off his body as he tossed them away, to reveal the deep blue fur and tan belly of an organic hedgehog.  
  
...but it was.  
  
His mouth opened and closed a couple times like a beached fish, trying to form words and failing. He tried to speak, to say something, to express his complete and unbelievable shock, but no sound came out of his mouth. He couldn't think. He didn't know what to think. One of the most basic and fundamental certainties of his life had just been shattered, leaving him startled, frightened, and feeling very much alone.  
  
Finally, he found his voice.  
  
".....I'M ALIVE!" He screeched, staring at his body like it'd leap up and attack him. Bunnie's expression relaxed into understanding. This was obviously a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and nothing more.  
  
"Well, yah! Ah admit Robahtnik had us worried, too.....but still, we managed to get yah outta there alraht. There ain't no reason to be all suhprahsed 'bout it."  
  
Mecha barely heard her, his eyes traveling incredulously over his body until they came to rest on his feet.  
  
His feet...he paused.  
  
They were covered by shoes.  
  
Red shoes.  
  
With a white horizontal strap over each of them.  
  
Mecha slowly, shakily reached a hand out to lightly touch the shoes. He'd seen them somewhere before.....  
  
"I-I need a mirror." He spoke up calmly, the surprise in his voice replaced by dread. "C-could you get me a mirror, please?" Ordinarily he'd be disgusted at the idea of asking a Freedom Fighter for anything, but at the moment he was feeling anything but ordinary.  
  
Bunnie looked at him oddly, but did as he requested, picking up a small hand mirror from a nearby dresser and handing it to him. "Shur, shugah." She shrugged.  
  
"Thanks." He took the mirror and closed his eyes as he moved it in front of his face. Taking a deep, shaky breath to somehow try bracing himself for he knew not what, he opened his eyes.  
  
And at that moment in Mecha's mind, the world stopped turning.  
  
Sounds went silent.  
  
Movement ceased.  
  
All was still.  
  
Mecha's heart stopped beating.  
  
--------------------  
  
A scream exploded out of the Medical Hut and rang throughout Knothole like a gunshot, waking Tails from the peaceful slumber he'd enjoyed not a moment before. The small two-tailed fox yelped in surprise and fell out of bed, leaping back to his feet again almost immediately. What was THAT?!  
  
The scream repeated itself, only louder and accompanied by a smashing, tearing noise. Tails raced across his hut to his window. The scream seemed to be coming from this direction...he glanced outside, wondering if they were under attack. However, before he could see anything but the familiar shape of the Medical Hut, he heard the desperate scream repeat itself again. He winced and shut his eyes, clamping his hands tightly down over his ears to muffle the painful sound.  
  
The smashing noise grew louder, sounding to Tails like something being forcibly broken through. It quickly stopped, but the scream continued on, stretching out for a few more agonizing moments before it abruptly cut off.  
  
Tails slowly opened one eye to look outside. There was a large dust cloud slowly rising from around the side of the Medical Hut facing his window. He tensely waited a couple moments for it to clear, then gasped, both eyes flying wide open.  
  
The first thing he saw was the massive hole. Wide and jagged at the edges, it stood out on the Medical Hut's wall like a tree at Robotropolis. Upon a closer look, he also spotted Bunnie's unconscious form sprawled out on the floor inside the building.  
  
Tails literally flew over to his bedside and yanked on his shoes and socks as quickly as he could. Something told him this would be a bad day...  
  
--------------------  
  
"WHAT THE--?!"  
  
"Holy crap!"  
  
Knuckles and Espio uttered dual exclamations as an incoherent blue blur suddenly flashed by them, heading into the forest. They stopped walking, deciding it would be pretty pointless to visit Sonic at the Medical Hut, like they had been about to do just now. "What was up with that?!" Espio muttered, surprised. Knuckles just shook his head.  
  
"Who knows. Maybe they tried to make Amy his nurse again or something." The echidna mused.  
  
Espio grinned. "That'd explain it, all right. Think we should go after him?"  
  
Knux waved a hand dismissively. "Naw, the Freedom Fighters'll take care of it. Let's just head over to their teleporter and leave. I'm getting worried about leaving the island alone this long."  
  
Espio shrugged as they resumed walking in a different direction. "What's to worry about? The rest of the Chaotix are up there. They can handle things for a little bit."  
  
"It's not them I'm worried about." Knux muttered, not seeing Espio's widening eyes or knowing expression.  
  
The purple chameleon sucked in a breath and casually clasped his hands behind his head. "You're thinking about Rouge, then." Espio remarked out of the blue with a small smile.  
  
Knuckles stumbled over his own feet in surprise. "Huh? Whuh?" He sputtered in shock, staring openly at his companion.  
  
"Hey, I understand how you feel, Knux. I mean, she's already stolen the Master once, so you've got a right to worry."  
  
Knuckles' expression became one big frown. "I was NOT thinking about her!" He protested hotly.  
  
"Suuuuure you weren't, Knux." Espio retorted in an unbelieving tone. "It's really obvious, you know. Everyone can tell you're-" Espio suddenly halted, blinking in surprise.  
  
"What? What is it?" Knuckles asked. When he received no reply, he followed the chameleon's gaze and stopped walking, himself.  
  
Up the street a large crowd was beginning to gather around a massive hole in the wall of one of the huts. What was inside the hole seemed to be the focus of their attention, however. They were talking and murmuring among each other in tones of surprise and disbelief, their voices carrying over to where Knuckles and Espio stood.  
  
"-disappeared-"  
  
"-can't believe it-"  
  
"-is she okay?-"  
  
"-no warning-"  
  
"-who did it?-"  
  
"-escaped-"  
  
Knuckles' expression darkened as he heard this. "Oh, wonderful." He growled sarcastically.  
  
--------------------  
  
Sonic wearily shook his head, cursing the body he was in for not having tear ducts.  
  
A few minutes ago, he had woken up-no, come online-and found that Robotnik had apparently been successful in roboticizing him. He was now identical in appearance to Metal Sonic; The mad doctor was not without a sense of irony, it seemed.  
  
Sonic gazed, heartbroken, at the steel mockery of hands at the ends of his arms. A flat yellow plate with just enough flexibility to bend like normal, with several curved spikes of metal for fingers poking out at the ends. A larger spike was attached to the side, obviously meant to be the thumb. He slowly clenched and unclenched them, his thoughts dark and brooding.  
  
On the bright side, he still had his free will-probably a side effect from the damage he'd caused the machine. Robotnik obviously didn't know about that, or else Sonic wouldn't be in one piece right now.  
  
"Now what should I do?" He asked himself hopelessly, grimacing at his metallic voice. Talking to himself wasn't something he did often, but there wasn't anyone else he could speak with right now and he needed to do something to ease the massive loneliness weighing down on him. "I can't go back to Knothole; they'll shoot me on the spot. If I stay here at Robotropolis then everyone will try to come rescue me, putting themselves in danger." Sonic didn't know was that the rescue attempt had already occurred, and had been successful, oddly enough.  
  
Searching for some kind of answer to his dilemma, Sonic's eyes roamed around the room he was in. It was quite bare-a metal table for a bed, placed next to a generator he could plug himself into to recharge. Most robots probably didn't concern themselves with decoration, he thought, noting the absence of wallpaper, carpeting, or any other interior furniture. Just four bare metal walls, a whitewashed ceiling, and a plain linoleum floor were all the glamour the area could muster.  
  
A small beep sounded inside Sonic's head. In one corner of his pixilated vision, a message popped up. _Incoming transmission, audio only. Display?  
  
Unsure how to respond, Sonic spoke out loud. "Uh, yeah, sure."  
  
_Command not recognized. Please repeat._  
  
Rolling his eyes, Sonic spoke again. "Yes."  
  
"Attention unit 'Metal Sonic'." A dull monotone began speaking, drowning out all other sound. It must be a SWATbot, Sonic realized. "Security has confirmed reports of intruders entering complexes 23-Beta, 45-Epsilon, and 80-Sigma."  
  
Somewhere in Sonic's new computer mind, a memory file activated itself. Those names were code words for three new factories that had been built recently. Intrigued, Sonic searched for more information about them. He gasped-or gave the robotic equivalent of one, at least-as he found the results.  
  
Apparently, Robotnik had begun trying his hand at genetic experimentation. The factories, collectively known as "G-3", were creating needles, test tubes, microscopes and other medical tools that Robotnik was moving to his laboratories for research. This surprised Sonic to no end, since until now Robotnik's creations had been purely mechanical, as a rule. But he couldn't deny the data before him, or what it implied.  
  
"Sir, do you wish to review the data?" The SWATbot's voice interrupted Sonic's thoughts, bringing him crashing back to the present.  
  
Sonic blinked for a moment, nodded, then realized that the SWATbot couldn't see him. "Yes," He spoke instead.  
  
Immediately, his view of the bare room around him was suddenly replaced.  
  
The change was so abrupt that Sonic wondered whether he'd been teleported outside. Around him was a dark, dirty street that he recognized as being in Robotropolis. He was surprised and startled for a couple seconds, before he realized that what he was seeing was a video, probably taken by one of Robotnik's security cameras. This, apparently, was the data the SWATbot had mentioned.  
  
He studied the images closer. A single, towering building dwarfed the side of the street opposite from where the camera was. THAT was new, Sonic thought with surprise. How could such a large structure have been built without either him or the other Freedom Fighters noticing?  
  
As he watched, a small figure broke up the stillness of the scene, slipping out of the shadows of an alley. Sonic squinted, trying to focus on the figure, but it was covered in some sort of cloak that hid its shape from view. The mysterious figure glanced around a couple moments to check the street for guards, its hood casting heavy shadows across its face. Then it quietly slipped inside one of the building's doors without a sound. The images stopped as abruptly as they began, and Sonic's view of the bare metal room suddenly returned. _End of file,_ the message blinked in the corner of his vision.  
  
Who was that? Sonic wondered, taking a deep breath to fuel his internal fusion generator. He blinked. Waitaminute, internal fusion generator? What's that?  
  
At that moment the programming in his CPU kicked in, sending one overpowering message into his mind: _REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK._  
  
Caught completely off-guard, Sonic reeled from the sheer force of the command, his thoughts scattering to the four winds. He gasped and flailed about in confusion, a cry exiting his throat as he accidentally fell off the table he'd been laying upon. He landed on the floor with a metallic grunt, trying to collect himself before the message slammed into his consciousness a millisecond later, sending him careening sideways into the wall.  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK,_ it bellowed.  
  
Sonic blinked rapidly, trying to remember what he'd been thinking of. It was getting increasingly hard to focus. He clenched his eyes shut and held his face in his hands, struggling to retain his fragile hold on the fleeting thoughts and images that even now were escaping him. There was an image of a squirrel wearing a blue vest, and a fox with two tails. But no matter how hard he tried, Sonic couldn't make out their faces...  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK,_ the message demanded.  
  
"N-no!" Sonic gasped, but it was an empty exclamation. He couldn't concentrate--it had become difficult to recall why he didn't want to do as the message said. Something to do with...with Robotnik...something he'd done in the past...  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK,_ the message boomed.  
  
Was Robotnik his master? Sonic couldn't remember anymore...  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK,_ the message thundered.  
  
"I...I don't know," Sonic replied nervously. "I don't know if I should..."  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK, _the message roared.  
  
Yes, Sonic thought tentatively. Yes, maybe that would be the right thing to do...  
  
_REPORT INTRUSION TO MASTER ROBOTNIK_, the message screamed.  
  
Alright, Sonic thought with firmer resolve. Alright, I will...  
  
_REPORT-_  
  
"ALRIGHT!" Sonic yelled angrily, his voice drowning out the message as his internal radio activated and automatically dialed the frequency for Robotnik's Command Center. Once again his view was replaced, this time by the image of a long-nosed, short human sitting in a solid iron chair that appeared to be a bit too big for him, and operating a myriad of controls that Sonic could just barely see at the bottom of his view.  
  
"Yes?" The human asked. His voice was high and nasal, the few strands of remaining hair on his almost-bald head drifting slightly like seaweed on the ocean floor with each movement he made.  
  
"Snively," Sonic spoke in a short, clipped tone that didn't betray his irritation, "I have news for Robotnik. Where is he?"  
  
"Still healing after that fiasco you two performed," Robotnik's nephew replied with a smugness whose origin became apparent with his next sentence. "He's left me in charge until his health returns, which means that you'll be answering to ME for the time being. So tell me; what's so important that you had to call and interrupt the game I was watching?"  
  
In Sonic's new mechanical mind, a mysterious anger emerged out of nowhere, directed towards Snively. His attitude, the look on his face, the way his eyes silently declared his superiority.all of it grated on Sonic's nerves to no end. He realized that his expression was turning into a snarl and caught himself just in time, reminding himself that he probably wasn't programmed to obey Snively unless Robotnik personally told him to. "Why did Robotnik not contact me to confirm this change?" He spoke in a carefully measured voice, his jaw clenched.  
  
Snively rolled his eyes haughtily. "How could he have?" He shot right back, tone sharp. "He's in the emergency medical ward, underneath supervision and on life support as we speak. It's not like he's fit for a face-to-face discussion."  
  
"I don't care." Sonic's voice was flat. "He would contact me if such a change in authority took place."  
  
"Look," the smugness in Snively's voice was rapidly becoming cold and irritable, "it doesn't matter. Robotnik has given me specific orders, and I intend to do them. You should, too, if you know what's good for you."  
  
The thinly-veiled threat did not go by unnoticed. Sonic's red pupils suddenly flamed bright as he replied softly, "Forget it. I'll tell Robotnik later, in person." He cut the connection immediately afterward, giving Snively no time to respond.  
  
Suddenly, an overpowering presence in Sonic's mind retreated, allowing a flood of memories to resurface; memories of being in Knothole and fighting against Robotnik. For a few moments Sonic stood perfectly still, as the implications of what he'd nearly done sank in.  
  
"Ohmigosh!" He gasped, backing up until he hit the wall and staring at his hands in horror. "What just happened? What's wrong with me?! I was...I almost..."  
  
The thoughts running through his head were so frightening that he immediately slammed his mental doors shut on them. Instead, he tried to sort out what had happened before he'd called Snively. Whatever that message had been, it seemed designed to block out memories and make him cooperate with his body's programming. But why would it be there, unless...  
  
"...unless Robotnik knew I might keep my free will." Sonic finished. He paused. "Oh, crud."  
  
He had to hand it to Robotnik-the doctor was smarter than he looked.  
  
--------------------  
  
_Running.  
  
Don't know where, don't know how long.  
  
Just running.  
  
Gotta keep running.  
  
Can't stop. Mustn't stop.  
  
Gotta get away...  
  
No! Don't think! Don't close your eyes! You'll see it!  
  
See the face...  
  
The face in the mirror...  
  
My face...  
  
NO! NOT my face! HIS face! Not mine! His!  
  
I'm not him. I'M NOT HIM!  
  
I CAN'T be him! It can't be true! It can't! I won't let it!  
  
I'm my own person! ME! The greatest robot ever created by Dr. Eggman! I'm not him! Anyone but him! It doesn't make sense! It's not possible! I refuse to believe it!  
  
I'M NOT HIM! I CAN'T BE!  
  
I HATE HIM!!  
  
I HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM!!_  
  
A frustrated, agonized scream broke free from Mecha's throat, scaring the birds away from the forest treetops in a massive dark cloud. He paused long enough to beat his fists uselessly against a rock to vent some of his rage, and then he was running again.  
  
_It's not true...I don't want it to be true...  
  
Please don't let it be true...please...  
  
Faster, faster! Hurry! Quickly!  
  
Don't think. Don't pause. Don't hesitate. Just run.  
  
Run, run, run!  
  
Get away...  
  
Gotta get away...outdistance everything.....  
  
Outdistance my fear. Outdistance my thoughts.  
  
Outdistance the truth..._  
  
A choked sob escaped the newly-organic throat of Mecha, his anger seamlessly changing into grief. His feet stumbled, faltered, and slowed their pace despite his mental urging. He finally trailed to a halt somewhere in the depths of the Great Forest, with tall, silent trees standing watch around him.  
  
All the strength left his legs at once; he collapsed on the cold, dusty ground. Fluid leaked out from his eyes, and strange spasms shook his chest as a small moaning sound welled up within him. He rested his head on his arms, quietly crying the first and last tears of his life.  
  
"I hate you all....." He sobbed.  
  
--------------------  
  
The next day, Sonic was peacefully recharging in the room where he'd first come online when he recieved a rather rude awakening.  
  
"Where _is_ he?!?"  
  
The scream practically shook the very foundations of the fortress, jolting Sonic out of stasis.  
  
"WHERE IS THAT HEDGEHOG?!?!"  
  
That one actually did shake the fortress; Sonic could feel the table he lay on vibrate as he heard it. The door to his plain metal room slammed open, denting the wall it hit. In the doorway stood a livid Robotnik, still wearing a pale green dressing gown from the ER. "Where...is...he?!" He panted, out of breath from screaming so hard.  
  
Sonic, deciding to play along, sat up and inquired in a confused voice, "Who, sir?"  
  
Another scream momentarily shorted out Sonic's auditory circuits. "Don't give me that! You know very well who I mean!" Robotnik yelled. "THE HEDGEHOG!!! WHERE IS HE??!"  
  
Sonic hid a mischievous smile from Robotnik with his hand, deciding to make the doctor mad just for the hell of it. Tossing caution to the wind, he thought up an appropriately infuriating answer and replied in a calm tone that sent Robotnik's blood pressure skyrocketing.  
  
"He escaped. The Freedom Fighters rescued him."  
  
This had not been what Robotnik wanted to hear. "What?! _WHAT?!?!_" He bellowed like a mad bull. Sonic allowed himself an internal grin, silently enjoying Robotnik's discomfort.  
  
"It gets worse, sir." Sonic continued in a maddeningly calm voice, deciding to clue Robotnik in on what he'd heard earlier just to make him even madder. "Our cameras spotted an unidentified intruder entering the G-3. Inventory reports three-quarters of their current shipment missing."  
  
Robotnik stopped moving entirely for a full three seconds, a vein throbbing visibly in his temple.  
  
Then he exploded.  
  
Hurling curses like an enraged demon, he glanced around with a wild look in his eyes, searching for some object he could expel his wrath upon. His eyes settled on Sonic for the briefest of moments, but passed him by; he was too valuable to damage. The door to Sonic's room was closest to him, so with the pained screech of tearing metal he used his robotic arm to rip the door away from its hinges and smash it onto the floor.  
  
Sonic allowed himself a smug internal grin. A thought occurred to him that he ought to record this moment for posterity, and began saving what he saw and heard as an audio/visual file on his hard drive.  
  
By now Robotnik had begun jumping up and down on top of the wrecked door repeatedly while yelling as much as his miniscule human lungs would allow, his face beet red and his eyes practically popping out of their sockets. Sonic realized that had he been his normal organic self, he might have been laughing right now. But robots did not have a gag reflex, and Sonic found himself unable to laugh the way he was used to, but rather play a recording of Mecha's voice laughing.  
  
Robotnik's voice snapped like a bear trap's jaws, jolting him from his reverie. "Mecha, I want you to PERSONALLY find this intruder. When you do, bring him to me." The deadly edge in Robotnik's voice conjured up several frightening images of what he possibly had in mind for the trespasser. "And call for SWATbot team 3 to report here immediately." He added as an afterthought.  
  
Still playing the part of obedient robot, Sonic got to his feet and stood rigidly at attention while saluting his superior smartly. Robotnik gave a careless wave in the direction of the now-empty doorway, dismissing him. Sonic marched out, arms stiff and swinging at his sides, and continued to do so for some distance down the hallway before dropping the act and breaking out into a quick jog. This was his chance to find out who that intruder was, help him with whatever he was doing, and perhaps sabotage Robotnik's factories in the process. Sonic smiled. But why should he stop there? Perhaps he could access Robotnik's central computer and give it a lovely virus. Or maybe a bunch of top-secret files could "mysteriously" go missing and "somehow" wind up with the Freedom Fighters. For a few moments, Sonic began to feel more like his normal self than ever, and his smile became a cheerful grin.  
  
Maybe getting roboticized wasn't such a bad idea after all......  
  
--------------------  
  
After waking up several hours later in the same spot where he'd fallen, Mecha mentally slapped himself.  
  
Hard.  
  
He would have done so physically, but reconsidered when he saw his mud- caked, filthy gloves and recalled the many diseases one could get from touching the mouth with dirty materials.  
  
Stupid...he'd acted so stupid. Instead of sitting down and trying to sort out the situation logically, he had let panic take over. Now he was tired, lost, and far away from any help he could have obtained. He smashed a fist into the dirt, wincing at the pain it caused. Damn these new emotions! Everything was so confusing to him now. He no longer knew what to think or what to do. He longed for the clear, simple logic of his CPU, and the precise, calculating efficiency with which it handled input.  
  
Metal blinked, suddenly realizing for the first time that he had no idea where his real body was. Surprised and irritated that the thought hadn't occurred to him earlier, he mulled over the list of possible locations where it could be. Although he had no solid facts to go on, he had his suspicions: It was entirely possible that the Freedom Fighters had stolen it, naively thinking they could reprogram him to assist their cause. Something told Mecha that this was not the case, though, and that his body was still in Robotropolis somewhere.  
  
If that was the case, he would need to return to the city for it.  
  
Miserable and furious at himself, he slowly sat up and looked around for anything recognizable. When nothing familiar appeared, he immediately tried to access his radar. But then he remembered that he didn't have one anymore; it, like the rest of his mechanical functions, was not present in this biological body.  
  
A pure, heated rage slowly blossomed in Mecha's mind. He hated this body. He hated every fiber of it, every cell and atom. It wasn't his. It didn't belong to him.  
  
But then...where was its true owner? It was obvious Sonic wasn't in this body, which meant his consciousness was somewhere else. It could've been destroyed, obliterated when Metal had replaced it (an idea that greatly appealed to him), but he doubted it. He'd fought Sonic before, and knew the hedgehog was tougher than that.  
  
That left only one logical explanation. Mecha's rage tripled as he came to a conclusion to explain both of the disappearances: Sonic had stolen his real body, probably because it was so superior to this crude organic one.  
  
The very thought enraged and terrified him at the same time.  
  
Mecha sank wearily to his knees. He felt like he was falling with nothing to hold on to. The world had suddenly decided to give him a hearty kick to the rear end, and he was having difficulty easing the pain in his posterior.  
  
What could he do? As if in answer, the rage reasserted itself, melting his fear away. The answer was obvious to him, although it would've appeared illogical to his robotic self: He would go back to Robotropolis, confront Sonic, and demand his body be returned to him. If his rival refused to comply, he'd take it by force.  
  
Then reason caught up with Mecha, showing him the large flaws in this plan. He knew from experience that every robot in Robotropolis was programmed to shoot Sonic (or anyone looking remotely like him) on sight, and he doubted they'd know that Sonic currently wasn't the one in this body. Furthermore, he had no idea how he was supposed to resume control of his true self if Sonic agreed to let him do so-consciousness transference was not a widely studied or even believed area of science, and Robotnik had sadly not had the foresight to insert some data into him upon activation about the little that was known on the subject.  
  
Metal Sonic clenched a fist. Well, he'd just have to do a little research on his own, then...  
  
He stood up, dusted away some of the dust and grit that had accumulated on his fur, and grimly gazed at the bright afternoon sky shining between the trees. It almost seemed to be mocking his dark predicament. He turned away from it with a faint growl, choosing to stare instead at the shadow he cast on the ground. The shadow wasn't his own, either. It wasn't the blocky, sharp-edged one he was familiar with; no, this one framed the shape of the one person he hated more than any other.  
  
Sonic would not get away with this, he promised himself. He WOULD get his real body back, or he would die trying.  
  
And if he was successful...  
  
For a moment the sun was hidden behind a passing cloud, and in the temporary darkness Mecha's face almost seemed to take on the shape of his former, robotic one.  
  
...If he was successful, Sonic would pay._


	5. Chapter 5 Memory

What If...Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?

A Fanfiction by Stoney

**A word of caution before you start reading this chapter:** My take on Rouge's personality is one whose language is, unfortunately, rather blue in shade; if you are offended by such content, you might want to ignore her dialogue. Also please note the fire exits at each end of the theatre while you watch the show. Thank you, and enjoy.

Chapter V

Memory

--------------------

Mecha gritted his teeth for the umpteenth time that day as another errant thought broke his concentration. His new, organic mind was so unbelievably frustrating to deal with, it made him want to scream. But since that would be a Bad Idea at the moment, he settled for clutching at his head and growling deeply, instead. "Arrgh! Stop it!" 

Thoughts were popping up in his mind with no order or relation to one another at all. It was completely random, the perfect representation of chaos. He couldn't focus on one thing for any great length of time without his mind drifting to another topic.

And to make matters worse, thinking in this body was so _slow!_ As a robot, he had been used to processing information faster than Sonic could run; within the span of picoseconds. Now he was discovering with dismay that organic minds took considerably longer to do the same task. How was Sonic able to perform his high-speed stunts when his thought processes took so long to finish?

He shook his head furiously, blocking out the other thoughts vying for his attention and re-focusing on his mission yet again. He slowly, carefully poked his head out of his cover between two large garbage piles. The shadows there helped camouflage him, but the effect wasn't complete. He knew that in this place stealth was of the greatest importance--which was the reason why he'd worn a black cloak, also.

Two buildings down and across the street from him, was one of the G-3. He guessed that Robotnik would want the highest possible security at this location (mainly due to the infinite potential for it attracting unwanted attention thanks to its large size). That said, it was logical that he'd put Sonic around there as part of the defenses.

Irrational fear broke past the mental barriers Mecha had put up. What if Sonic _wasn't _there, but instead there were hundreds of SWATbots? What if he, Mecha, were just walking into a trap? He wasn't very good at using this body yet--he didn't dare run for fear of tripping and hurting himself--and was uncertain how he'd manage in a fight. Robots were much more versatile than biologics, after all; repairing a machine took mere hours, whereas repairing an organic took weeks, maybe months. He was used to this, and had in fact relied on it at more than one occasion. He no longer had that advantage, now.

Determination flowed through him anew. Well, he'd just have to cross that road when he got to it. He wasn't giving up now, not when he was so close to his objective. He'd get his true body back, or he'd destroy the body he was currently in and remove its threat to Robotnik's plans forever.

Confidence strengthened, he stood up and quietly slipped off into Robotropolis's dank, cloudy roads.

--------------------

Two eyes narrowed as they watched the gleaming blue hull of a hedgehog-robot pass by below. _What is **he** doing here?_

He glanced over his shoulder at the entrance he'd come through, cursing inwardly as he finally located a nearly-invisible security camera posted across the street, watching everything silently. Why hadn't he noticed it before?

He scowled, gritting his teeth angrily. _Great, I've been spotted._ If he was to complete his mission, he'd now have to move more quickly than before. Quietly he sat and watched Sonic, who appeared to be searching for him without success. With a grim smile, he stealthily slunk along the beam to a spot above the robot. If he was lucky, he could subdue Sonic with no problems.

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten what excellent trackers machines are. 

As soon as Sonic had entered the building, his radar had detected an unusually large heat signature belonging to the stranger poised above him on a horizontal support beam. Based on the relative build of the creature, he'd finally concluded it must be a male. After deciding to try catching the intruder unawares, he had pretended to still be looking around cluelessly as he waited for whoever-it-was to make his move.

After a couple moments of tense silence the stranger's heat signature started to shift position, indicating movement. Sonic continued to wait patiently for the intruder to move into an area that would provide him with a clear shot. Whether this person was fighting against Robotnik or not, he was taking no chances.

Slowly the intruder crept along a beam directly above Sonic, probably planning an ambush from above. It was now or never.

Sonic's arm abruptly shot up, hidden plasma cannon revealed as a piece of metal plating lifted and slid out of the way faster than the human eye could blink. He fired a single, intense beam of energy that entered the stranger below the torso, carving a vertical path through his body, erupting out the top of his skull, and melting various internal organs into an unidentifiable puddle of loose protein strings.

At least, that's what Sonic had planned on doing. 

In reality, though, the intruder had leaped out of the way with surprising swiftness just before the laser struck, burning a circular hole through the support and the ceiling above it. Sonic cursed mentally and glared at the area where the intruder had fled. "Come on out, I know you're there." He snapped, angry he'd missed.

In the shadows of a niche in the wall, the intruder mentally debated whether it would be a wise move to follow this demand. It's not like it really mattered now; he'd already been discovered and his cover was blown. Besides, it would make Sonic happy if he knew. However, that meant he wouldn't be anonymous anymore; there would be a chance Robotnik would find out, and that would ruin everything.

Finally, he made his decision. Slowly emerging from the darkness, he stood defiantly in the light of multiple fluorescent bulbs that shone from above. Upon seeing the creature, Sonic's circuits froze up with shock and disbelief. His CPU, unable to comprehend the illogic it was processing, abruptly switched itself off. As a result, his systems lost all contact with his central processor. His jaw, no longer receiving a signal to flex the muscular fiber-optic cables that kept it shut, hung open loosely. He swayed on the spot for several moments before his systems finally concluded that the lack of input must be a malfunction and set the self-repair nanobots in his circulatory fluid to work on fixing the error, while automatically sending him into recharge-stasis.

The intruder knew none of this; He just watched quietly as the robot's eyes blinked off and it fainted, unconscious before it even hit the floor.

--------------------

Muscles screaming, feet pounding furiously against hard, unrelenting pavement. Rapid inhalation, gathering breath after piercing breath into his lungs to fuel his superhuman pace. Limbs pounding with adrenaline, eyes half-closed to shield them from the wind, arms pumping back and forth in a steady, yet quick, rhythm. Forceful gales sweeping through his blue fur, tossing the massive spines at the back of his head about like a bizarrely-shaped kite. Green pupils focused intently on the track in front of him, the dazzling multicolored lights of a city passing by in a hazy blur, all sound lost except for the whistling air passing him by and the pounding heartbeat in his ears. 

At that moment, one thought and one thought only was on his mind.

_I will not let him win._

The bitter smell of exhaust fills his nostrils, the whine of an approaching engine stabbing into the cool night air. All other sounds are nearly lost in the roaring wind; the distant crackling of flames, the hiss of hydraulics, the whirring and clanking of moving parts, and a soft, malignant laugh. A laugh formed from a steely robotic voice, mere feet behind him. 

His arms tuck in close to his chest for protection, his legs lengthening their stride little by little, gradually releasing their reserve energy; the energy he'd carefully rationed throughout the race to keep from tiring himself out too early.

_I will not let him win!_

A twisted, metallic reflection coasts up next to him, staring at him as it rides the wind on a self-fueled rocket booster installed in its back, its engine whining as power was supplied to the cooling fans and booster cells within. Spiked yellow hands stretch forward, anticipating the moment when they would cross the finish line at last.

And those eyes...

Dark, bottomless pools of hate and revulsion, sucking in light and all positive emotions while releasing an aura of intimidating fear upon their hapless victim. The pupils glare at him, bright blood-red and glowing like two mature stars, burning with the eternal, damnable flame of evil. Their gaze was heartless.....soulless.....emotionless.

He keeps his view locked ahead, refusing to look at his adversary's eyes. To do so would mean losing his nerve for sure. And that was something he couldn't risk at this point.

_I will NOT let him win!_

The finish line is now visible at the end of a final, straight stretch, marked by a large yellow arch that curves above the track's entire width. That arch, he knew, had a hidden metal door in it that would close immediately after the first racer got through, sealing off the exit and forcing anyone from second place down to take a detour around it. Beyond the arch lies Amy Rose, tied hand and foot with thick cords of rope. The young, pink hedgehog is near to hysteria with tears streaming down her face, as she helplessly watches the racers draw closer and closer.

His stride becomes considerably longer as he releases the last of his reserve strength for one final boost of speed, sparks beginning to fly from his body as he nears the sound barrier. Knowing that breaking the barrier would mean activating a time-warp in this place, he carefully keeps his speed below Mach 1. 

His opponent is smart enough to do this also as it puts all it had left into a mad dash for the finish, engine screaming from the strain. Its eyes flare with determination, determination that still holds strong even as his opponent increases his lead by half a foot.

He glances over his shoulder at his reflection, half a yard away. Still too close for his liking; it was time for his Last Resort Maneuver. Below, his legs spin into a blur that slowly forms the symbol of infinity; a figure 8 on its side.

_I WILL NOT LET HIM WIN!!_

Everything becomes a single, solid mass of light, color, and sound around him, mixing together at the edges and becoming blurry, indistinct, like the colors of a painting; sound becoming one solid, roaring mass; wind tearing into him as he grits his teeth against the pain it inflicts against his face; the sparks fly faster and more frequently, and he feels the sound barrier tugging at his arms and legs like an invisible wall, holding him back--

**_.....I....._**

****

--the machine struggles to match his sudden jump in speed, refusing to give up even now--**__**

****

**_.....WILL....._**

****

--he clenches his eyes shut, to keep them from being torn open by powerful gusts--**__**

****

**_.....NOT....._**

****

--Amy lets out a gasp of horror as they both hurtle towards the arch--**__**

****

**_.....LET....._**

****

--far, far behind them, a large figure smirks from his lofty position in a round, metallic hovercraft, confident in his robotic creation's abilities--**__**

****

**_.....HIM....._**

****

--five feet away, three feet, ONE FOOT--**__**

****

**_.....WIN!!!_**

THUD.

Before he could register what was happening he was through the arch, leaning all his weight backwards and slowing down with a screech of burning shoe soles. The archway door, five feet thick and a solid iron, had just dropped forcefully into place behind him.__

The robot's eyes go wide upon seeing the door close, mouth twisted into a horrible snarl as it realizes there is no possible way for it to change its present flight path and avoid a collision within a space of five feet. As this fact registers in its systems, it utters one single syllable of rage and disbelief.

_"No--!"_

The door rushes forward, and the machine knew no more.

Amy suddenly finds herself caught between wanting to cheer her hero and weep thankfully for her rescue as he finally skids to a halt, smiling wearily for her sake. She settles for doing both at once as he gently unties the ropes that bind her. As soon as her limbs are free, she jumps to her feet and hugs him tightly, refusing to let go for the life of her. He can feel the warm wetness of her tears slowly trickle down his abdomen as she buries her face in his chest and cries out the emotions she'd experienced in the past few hours.

Unfortunately, his legs pick that moment of all times to collapse from sheer exhaustion. He crumples into a heap, accidentally pulling Amy down with a surprised yelp, as well. She isn't scared, though; merely surprised. Understanding his need to rest, she reasserts her previous position snuggling up close to him and closes her eyes, continuing to cry even as she smiles for the first time in days. Normally he'd protest her close proximity to him, but is currently too weary to care. So he allows her, just this once, to hold him as he slowly succumbs to the sleepiness at the edges of his brain, forgetting about the familiar round hovercraft, its moustached occupant, and the deadly laser on its bottom that had been chasing them throughout the race...

As his eyes close, a pleased sigh escapes Amy's lips, carrying with it one word; his name.

"Sonic..."

Her voice changes, becomes deeper in pitch, and rising in volume.

"Sonic!"

The voice echoed from somewhere far away, piercing his dreamlike flashback and tugging him back to consciousness. He struggled to lift his eyelids, but every movement is difficult. 

He was so tired.....all he wanted was to rest.....

"SONIC!"

Finally, his eyes miraculously obeyed his mental commands to open--and stared above him into a pair of red pupils. 

If he'd still been organic, Sonic would have paled. Nonetheless, his limbs went numb with stunned paralysis as he recognized the face inches away from his own. It was the last face he would have expected to see, one he had thought to be vanished forever.

Until now. 

The ebony fur around it was thinner than Sonic remembered it being, but it had already begun to grow back to its original state by this time. Red highlights streaked up the top portions of two identical pairs of spines, which themselves curled outward and up like four sharp horns. The pointed, red flaps of skin at his upper eye corners made his expression seem more menacing than it would usually be, and his fleshy muzzle, smaller than Sonic's own and containing a mouth pulled into a worried frown, completed his facade of mystery and hidden power.

The hedgehog leaned back a bit, relief evident in his posture as he spoke, confirming Sonic's instinctive suspicions of his identity with his recognizable voice. "I thought you'd died for a second there. Are you okay?"

To say Sonic was shocked would have been a gross understatement. He was beyond shock, beyond disbelief, beyond any word that might try to describe the raw emotion surging through his circuits. Long ago he had calculated the possibility of this hedgehog's survival from an orbital-altitude freefall into Mobius's atmosphere to be so low as to not even be worth considering. And yet despite the overwhelming odds, here that very same hedgehog now stood, as alive and healthy as ever.

The edges of his mouth twitched up in the barest hint of a smile as he folded his arms across a white patch of fur on his chest. "Something wrong, blue hedgehog? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sonic finally managed to speak, his words slow and stammered. "Shadow.....?" He whispered, hardly daring to believe the question as he spoke it. "Is that you?"

"Nice to see you too, Sonic." He bobbed his head once in acknowledgement.

The last word of Shadow's sentence registered in the metal hedgehog's neuronic matrix, leaving him thunderstruck. "You _know_--?!"

"About your body swap with Mecha? Yes." Shadow stood and lent Sonic a hand as he unsteadily rose, trying to make sense of the situation. "I've been spying on Robotnik ever since I first arrived here months ago. I saw what happened with your little mad science experiment when I reviewed the security tapes of the incident; I knew something weird had happened to you two, but couldn't prove it until later." He arched one corner of his mouth; it was the closest Sonic had ever seen him come to a genuine smile. "I know what you're thinking.'How can I be sure?' Well, I'd had plenty of time to study the true Mecha and how he acted up to that point. My suspicions were confirmed when you began to act differently, starting right after I rescued Mecha from here and packed him off to Knothole."

Sonic blinked, stunned speechless. This had to be the longest monologue he'd ever heard Shadow give. The black hedgehog stared evenly at him. "Before you ask, yes, I was indeed the one who rescued him. I still thought you were in that body at the time and had no idea that I was unwittingly leading your worst enemy straight to the Freedom Fighters' base. For that, I apologize."

Questions sped through Sonic's mechanical mind faster than sound could travel through air. How'd he survive? How'd he spy on Robotnik? Where'd he go to keep hidden all this time? Did anybody else know he was still alive? _Mecha was at Knothole?! _He finally spoke up. "I never told you where Knothole was. How'd you know its location?"

Shadow folded his arms mysteriously. "I didn't. For that, I needed to enlist the help of someone who did."

"But then why didn't--"

"Look, we don't have time for this." Shadow suddenly interrupted him, tone impatient. "You've been out for over five minutes now; Snively is going to start wondering what happened to you and come looking if he hasn't already, and I want to be far away from here before that happens. Both he and Robotnik think I'm dead just like you did, and I can't afford to blow my cover just yet by getting caught early." 

Silence extended between them for several seconds before Shadow inclined his head in a farewell gesture. "I think I have some idea on how to reverse the mind-swap process using the Chaos Emeralds, but I need a little more time before we try anything. I shall see you again soon, Sonic. Until then, please don't inform anyone of my presence here."

He tossed Sonic something small and yellow, which he caught easily. Sonic stared at it in surprise. The Yellow Chaos Emerald? He looked back up at Shadow, who merely arched an eyebrow. "It's the fake emerald. I used it to escape. Give it back to your friend with my thanks."

Sonic opened his mouth to let out an exclamation of surprise when his internal radio crackled to life. Snively's nasal voice emerged from it, sounding faintly irritated. "Metal, come in already! Don't try the silent act on me again; you remember what happened last time! What is your status? Over!" This, of course, was intermixed with several other muttered words that don't bear repeating.

Sonic was silent as he continued to stare at Shadow, which made Snively uncharacteristically furious. He began to shout a string of curses aimed at the robot and his nonexistent mother before Sonic finally turned away to answer. "Metal Sonic here, over."

"Finally! Took your sweet time, didn't you?! Over!"

Sonic almost replied with a snappy retort, but held himself in check--he wanted to see the little jerk's face before he tried angering him on purpose. "I apologize, but I was knocked offline by a falling piece of roofing." He spoke carefully. "This place could stand to have some repairs done." He added. "Over."

"Oh, never mind," Snively growled in disgust. "What of the intruder, over?"

Sonic thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't programmed to tell the truth. "Condition green, intruder has fled the premises. Nothing of value has been damaged or stolen, over."

Snively's relieved sigh was highly audible to Sonic's honed auditory receptors. "Very well, then. Return to the Command Center and give me a full report when you arrive. Snively out."

"Affirmative. Mecha out." Sonic cut the connection before any more could be said. Opening a panel in his chest, he carefully placed the fake emerald inside and closed it. He glanced back over at where Shadow had stood, but found nobody there. Confused, he looked around for any sign of Shadow's recognizable form, but received none. Like an early morning fog swept away by a breeze, the hedgehog had vanished without a trace. All that remained in the factory was a troubled organic mind, trapped within a body of silicon and metal.

But not for long...

--------------------

Mecha slowly crept up to the heavy metal door, cautiously opening it just wide enough to slip through sideways. For a moment he was almost glad that this body was so much thinner than his robotic one, but quickly squashed the thought in feelings of newfound anger when he reminded himself who the body in question belonged to.

He looked up, checking the area for any possible guards. It was a large machine room; several still and silent conveyor belts ran its length and disappeared through numerous short but long holes in the walls and floor. Countless machines designed for more delicate wielding and building than organic hands could produce hung silent alongside them, deactivated for now. Mecha carefully picked his way between them, keeping to the shadows and only entering the direct light filtering through the room's windows when absolutely necessary.

He was glad for his knowledge of Robotnik's security, he thought as he ducked behind another oddly-shaped machine. He knew all the pass codes he'd need to get in and out of the building undetected, and where they needed to be input. Eyes darting around, he finally decided the coast was clear and left his spot in the shadows, making a beeline for a nearly-invisible panel at the far wall. 

"Well, look who we have here." A feminine voice whispered in Mecha's ear.

Mecha didn't know for sure what exactly happened; all he knew was that his muscles suddenly moved of their own accord, spinning him around, grabbing the intruder, and completing a 360 degree spin to slam them against the wall underneath the panel. Mecha blinked as he suddenly returned to his senses. What was that? Reflex? Instinct? He blinked again as he got his first good look at who he'd caught. 

Something inside him knew this individual. She was a bat whose fur was a bleached white on her head, but fleshy-colored from the neck down. Her arms and wings were separated, the latter attached just above her shoulder blades; her species had apparently evolved that way after hundreds of thousands of years. She wore a pink heart-shaped blouse over her full bosom and a skintight black leather jumpsuit on her torso that did nothing to hide her shapely figure. Her legs were covered by white steel-toed boots with decorative hearts at the knees and toes--her arms were covered with long white gloves that came up to her elbows. She was currently blinking at him in startled surprise from underneath a heavy layer of eye shadow and makeup, stunned that he'd managed to react so quickly.

Her appearance produced a name in his mind; Rouge. Her name was Rouge. It also produced something else, from that spot deep inside him which somehow knew her.....before he could register what was happening, Mecha was swept away by a memory, vivid yet not his own.....

_"You!" Knuckles growls, brandishing his shiny shovelclaws at the bat that had lightly dropped down from the ceiling in front of us. "Don't you ever give up?"_

_I look back and forth from him to the bat. "Hey Knux," I whisper with a nudge to his side and an impish grin, "I didn't know you had a girlfriend! You old charmer, you!"_

_He whirls to face me, suddenly furious. He bares all his pointy white teeth with a growl. "Stuff it, Sonic. You have no idea what she's put me through! This is nothing like that, at all!" _

_"Suuure it isn't." I reply teasingly, unable to keep the grin off my face. "Come on Knux, you ought to be proud. She's quite a catch!"_

_Knuckles' eyes flare and he takes one menacing step towards me. He looks like he's about to punch my face in. Oh yikes. Maybe I went too far. Just in case, I back off a bit, holding my hands up in a sign of peace. "Whoa there man, chill out. I'm just trying to lighten the mood, s'all."_

_He frowns, then shrugs and grunts, turning back to the bat. "What do you want?"_

He yelled and released her, stumbling back and clutching his head as the onslaught of images and sounds continue. What is this?! What was going on??

_She didn't appear to have noticed our little conversation; indeed, she seemed on the verge of tears, weakly struggling to hold them back and put on a brave front. "It's all over for us," She chokes out in a trembling tone, leaning a hand on the wall as if her legs could no longer support her. We stand silent, waiting for her to continue. She does._

_"I just received a message from my boss.....the ARK has currently left its orbit, and is approaching Earth at a terrible velocity. It probably..." She pauses at this point, passing a hand in front of her eyes and taking a shaky breath to steady herself. ".....it probably will impact Earth."_

_My eyes go wide. "Say WHAT?!" I exclaim, my voice more panicked than I'd like to admit. "We're gonna turn into meteors??"_

_Even Knuckles was taken aback, his former begrudging attitude vanished. His face was pale, and he looked just as scared as I felt. "Are you sure?"_

_Eyes tightly squeezed shut and unable to speak, she can only nod. Something in me--my heart, I guess--sinks clear to my soap shoes at the gesture. I can almost feel it sloshing around in them as I whirl at the sound of another, more unfamiliar voice echoing across the room._

_"Look!" Knuckles exclaims, pointing at a large TV monitor above the room's controls. "Who's that?"_

Finally the memory faded, leaving him shaking and swaying on his knees, with Rouge frantically trying to get his attention. "For Chaos' sake Sonic, get up!" She pleaded, shaking him by the shoulders. "Hurry and get out of sight, before you're..."

--------------------

SEARCHING...TARGETS_FOUND

QUANTITY: 2

EXECUTING_PROGRAM=IDENTIFY...

            SCANNING...SCAN_COMPLETE

            SEARCHING_DATABASE...2_RECORDS_FOUND

TARGET1=MOBIAN, ALIAS: ROUGE_THE_BAT, OCCUPATION: BOUNTY_HUNTER

STATUS: ACTIVE

            ACTION=IGNORE

TARGET2=MOBIAN, ALIAS: SONIC_THE_HEDGEHOG, OCCUPATION: REBEL

STATUS: ACTIVE

            ACTION=PRIORITY_HEDGEHOG_DETECTED

EXECUTING_PROGRAM=HEDGEHOG_HUNTER...

            STARTING_BATTLE_PROTOCOLS...DONE

            ALERTING_SECURITY_NETWORK...DONE

            TRANSMITTING_CURRENT_POSITION...DONE

            CALIBRATING_WEAPONS_SYSTEMS...DONE

            WEAPON_STATUS=ARMED

PLAY_AUDIO: "Hedgehog, priority one! Surrender or be destroyed!"

EXTERNAL_AUDIO (TARGET1): "...seen."

EXTERNAL_AUDIO (TARGET2): "Huh?"

EXTERNAL_AUDIO (TARGET1): "SWATbots."

WARNING=TARGETS HAVE ASSUMED BATTLE FORMATION

ACTION=NEUTRALIZE

EXECUTING...

--------------------

"HEDGEHOG, PRIORITY ONE!" Blared a droning monotone, as alarms begin to activate around them. "SURRENDER OR BE DESTROYED!"

"...seen." Rouge finished the now-useless sentence in a sigh while several familiar security robots ran up and formed a circle around them.

Finally Mecha blinked, recovering his senses again in time to look up and see her frowning face. He meant to ask her what's going on, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a weak "Huh?"

"SWATbots." Was the grim reply, as she helped him to his feet. Although he still didn't feel completely okay, he turned and faced the bots anyway. If he was gonna go down, it would be with a fight.__

---------------------

Blaring sound suddenly overloaded Sonic's auditory receptors. The abrupt shutdown caused a slight power surge within his neural net, resulting in a series of spasmodic movements among his limbs. He quickly applied pressure to the problem area to decrease the power flow as compensation for the error, simultaneously switching off visual reception to conserve energy and reroute it to his self-repair nanobots. 

In other words, he recoiled a bit and clamped his hands down on either side of his head, clenching his eyes shut. When his receptors finally clicked back on at 22% volume pickup 3 microseconds later, he discovered that every alarm in the factory had simultaneously gone off.

He switched his internal radio on again and set it to the frequency of this area's SWATbots, cursing under his breath as he did so. "SWATLeader, this is Commander Metal Sonic. What is your status? Over."

Instantly a droning voice replied, "Priority Hedgehog has been detected in sector 3. Self-unit's Squadron is in pursuit as we speak. Over." The SWATbot leaders had been graced with a more advanced version of AI to help them direct their troops, although it was nowhere near the intelligence Sonic's new body had.

Speaking of Sonic, he couldn't help but jump slightly at the words 'Priority Hedgehog.' That didn't make any sense! HE was Priority Hedgehog! They must have spotted somebody who looked like him, he concluded. A creeping coldness suddenly settled in the pit of his rocket engine, located roughly where a biological organism's stomach would be. 

Somebody who looked like him...such as Shadow.

"SWATLeader Delta, continue pursuit of Priority Hedgehog, but shoot to stun." He snapped. "Do not kill, I repeat, do NOT kill Priority Hedgehog. Over!"

"Understood, sir. Anything else?" 

"Yes. Give me the coordinates of Priority Hedgehog's last known position, and update me whenever he is seen again! Over!"

A list of numbers was relayed, and Sonic looked through a digital image of the factory's blueprints in his mind. Let's see...that would mean Shadow was in sub-basement 2A of Complex Omega, the second of the three interlinked buildings. How'd he get over there so quickly? Chaos Control? Doesn't matter now, the SWATbot was telling him some more coordinates. Shadow was heading due east, towards an elevator...another list of numbers came over the radio. Scratch that, he'd arrived at the elevator and was going up to the first floor. Sonic turned around. He was only a few minutes away from them, if he hurried.

Hoping he wasn't too late, he activated his rocket booster and turned it to full thrust, a dangerous move at the best of times due to its almost incontrollable power. "Come on, work, please work," He mumbled as the machine in his backside began powering up with a whine. 5, 4, 3, 2...

FWOOM!

Sonic had no idea what happened. A surprised gasp was torn from his iron lips as the world seemed to melt into a puddle of blurred colors, speeding past him in an incoherent streak. He could feel the momentum lift his feet off the ground entirely, snapping his arms and head back. Had there been anyone watching at the time, they would have seen a glow of the purest white color imaginable emanate from the depths of his engine as it released two highly flammable chemicals in front of a mini flamethrower. A split-second later those same witnesses would have been incinerated by its massive backlash, a fireball that filled the entire corridor with its size as Sonic took off at near the speed of sound.

Sonic wasn't concerned about his lift-off at the moment however, far too focused on trying to steer with 200 pounds of liquidized oxygen burning on his back. There was a blinking red dot in his mental blueprints-map that indicated his own position. It now began to move, quickly picking up speed. Terror balked his circuits as he looked at the map and saw a turn in the tunnel rapidly approaching. Unfortunately, the inertia had not yet lifted enough to allow him to tilt his head forward, so his view was limited to the ceiling rushing by above. Depending on the map for navigation, he lunged all his weight sideways and took the corner blind, barely managing to avoid oversteering into its inside wall by swerving back on course.

After a few minutes of some such creative flying, the inertia gradually released its hold on him and let his head face forward. Now able to see what he was doing, he resumed his chase to Shadow's position with earnest. 

--------------------

"Oh, this is just perfect." Rouge growled sarcastically, glaring at the five SWATbots surrounding her. "How come everyone always picks on me?"

"Must be your animal magnetism." Mecha replied back without thinking from his spot behind her. He paused. Wait a second, had he just made a joke?

The SWATbots' lasers began to warm up in preparation for firing. Rouge grinned nastily.

"Well, too bad for them, this girl's taken already. Bring it, boys!" She yelled at the 'bots, dashing forward and plowing through them like a battering ram. At the same time, Mecha crouched into a low sweep kick, knocking three of the bots down and allowing him time to get up and follow Rouge.

"And just what was _that _supposed to do?" He asked angrily as he caught up with the bat. "The SWAT's are still alive!" He pointed at the five robots that had by now regained their footing and were resuming the chase.

Rouge's glare was acidic. "Gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you WANTED them to escort you to the roboticization chamber. Look, there's a nice little dead-end over there; why don't you let them catch up with you and capture you and torture you? Don't mind me, I'll just leave and stay alive, thanks."

Mecha did nothing except glare in reply. Numerous thoughts were randomly popping into his mind again; Rouge's perfect hourglass figure was causing his body to react in a way that completely disgusted him. He shook his head rapidly to re-focus on the task at hand.  "What I meant was, why didn't you just fly us out of there? You've got wings!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. She stopped to hit the 'open' button on an elevator door and duck inside, slapping the 'close' button on its interior as Mecha followed. Finally she answered, speaking in a tone that informed Mecha how stupid his question had been. "Because they would've turned us both into swiss cheese with those lovely little lasers of theirs. I can't fly very fast while carrying someone, you know."

The elevator gave a pleasant 'ding' as it arrived at the top floor of the G-3, opening to reveal about a dozen lasers pointed at their heads. Rouge jumped a little, suddenly realizing there was no way out from under the robots' fire. "Ah, shit!" She howled. "I HATE getting trapped!"

Mecha frowned. He hadn't planned on getting anybody else involved in this--it was a private matter between him and Sonic. Somehow, he knew it wasn't right to drag someone else into this that didn't deserve it. He could feel a small pang of something--conscience, maybe? Was he actually redeveloping his sense of right and wrong? He staunchly folded his arms and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Get out of here; I'll distract them."

She glared at him as if he'd claimed to be a stalk of celery. "What?!"

"Save yourself. Go tell the others." He waved a dismissive hand at her as she opened her mouth to protest. "Don't worry; I'll be fine. I've gotten out of worse before." This was a lie, and he knew it--he knew next to nothing about how to perform the techniques that Sonic had used to defeat him in previous encounters. But there was something about the thought of Rouge getting hurt that he strongly disliked, and it was this something that made him want to spare her any undue harm. Again he could feel that pang within him. It was starting to get annoying.

Instead of reassuring Rouge, his statement only seemed to make her madder. "Like HELL I will!" She growled, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him roughly. "I've gone to all this trouble to get you out, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let it be for nothing!"

Jerking himself out of her grip, Mecha stared her down. "You're making a mistake," He warned her calmly.

"Screw that. I'm saving our asses, that's what I'm doing." She snorted before diving into the incoming mass of robots, feet darting out like twin sledgehammers. Mecha shook his head and sighed, then realized that several of the SWATbots were still aiming their lasers at him. His eyes widened. "Uh oh..."

"SURRENDER OR BE DESTROYED," The robots droned. "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

As cliché as this warning was, it got a reaction. Deep down inside Mecha, something suddenly snapped into place. Before he could think about what he was doing he'd gone into a quick spindash, slamming through the 5 bots. They went down like bowling pins, their lasers firing erratically.

Mecha uncurled and stumbled back to his feet, panting and wondering what the heck had just happened--

--when he halted, coming face-to-face with himself.

Not his present form, mind you: it was Sonic, stuck in Mecha's robot body. Right now, he looked about as startled as a robot without many facial features can get as he burst through a side door into the hallway, his rocket booster at max. Mecha couldn't help but wince a little--he knew from personal experience that using the booster at top speed was a Bad Idea unless you had a good football-field-sized distance to slow down in.

He was right. Sonic shut off his booster and tried to stop his momentum, but his feet still weren't touching the ground. Unable to do anything, he sailed right past Mecha while staring at him with a comical look of surprise. (To this day, Mecha has never forgotten his mental image of that moment; it was simply priceless.) Half a second went by before Sonic hit a door on the corridor's opposite side, ramming it open and skidding into the room beyond with a shriek of grinding metal.

Mecha paused, head uneasily darting from Sonic staggering back to his feet to the several SWATbots at the elevator who were doing the same thing. Indecision tore at him. What lousy timing! Should he stay and confront Sonic, or run and catch up with Rouge? Which, which, which? 

Luckily, his decision was made for him as Sonic turned and approached at a limp, eyes shining with some hidden emotion as he stopped at less than two feet away. "Mecha…..?" He whispered, slowly starting to understand. "…..Is that you?"

 "DUCK!" Rouge screamed, plowing into them and knocking all three to the side as several lasers shot overhead. She roughly hauled Mecha up by the hand and took off running, with several robots following close behind. "If you're gonna stand there for target practice, then I might as well leave you here." She growled. "Keep moving, keep alive, okay?!"

Mecha balked against her grip for a second. "No! Wait! I have to talk to him! Let me go!"

"Who? Metal Sonic?" Rouge demanded with a roll of her eyes, running faster and practically dragging Mecha along. _She's a lot stronger than she looks_, he realized. "What're you gonna do, ask him which brand polish he uses? Give it up. He'd rather shoot first before chatting."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." A robotic voice sneered above them.

Rouge screeched to a halt with an oath as Sonic landed two feet ahead of them, rocket engine shutting off with a slow whine. "So," He glared darkly at Mecha, "I was wrong. Robotnik didn't roboticize me after all. You and I just switched bodies, instead."

"Say what?!" Rouge demanded, glancing at Sonic. "What's he talking about?" Then, the robot's last sentence registered. "…..wait. Switched bodies?" Her eyes widened and she abruptly let go of Mecha's hand as if it was red-hot, quickly backing away. Mecha didn't even notice, his glare centered squarely on Sonic.

"What of it?" He replied, face impassive.

"Give it back." Sonic's voice was a low growl.

"How?"

"The same way you took it in the first place, you thief!" The robot exploded, shaking his fists in the air furiously.

"What are you talking about? YOU stole MY body!"

"How DARE you accuse me of something like that!" Sonic roared. "I wouldn't want to be a robot if-"

"TIME OUT!!"

Sonic and Mecha both stopped their tirades and blinked at Rouge, who looked mad enough to cause a volcanic eruption. She stood between them, her hands held out to fend them off from each other, breathing hard as she shot each of them looks of disgust and righteous anger. "First of all, I'M the thief around here, thank you very much. Secondly, could someone please explain just what the _hell_ is going on here, preferably _after_ we've lost the bot brigade??"

Sonic turned to face the incoming robots and sent a silent radio signal to them: _Mission failed, target has escaped. Resume normal activities. _The bots fell back at once. "Done." He turned to face Mecha. "Now give it BACK!!"

"Sonic, I don't know how! It was an accident--"

"What bull."

"I'm serious!" Mecha's voice was starting to become a little desperate. This wasn't at all how he'd planned their confrontation...

"SO AM I!!" The robot roared at maximum volume, fists clenched. 

Rouge growled loudly, hands pressed over her head and eyes shut tight. She was making a monumentous effort to control her irritation and not smack both Sonic and Mecha a good one upside the head. "All right, let's just think for a second. How'd this happen?" She asked calmly, trying to comprehend what was going on.

Sonic stabbed a claw in Mecha's direction. "Ask him! HE'S the one who did it!"

"I am NOT!" Mecha protested hotly.

"Just answer the question, willya?!" Rouge snarled at them both.

"An electrical discharge." Mecha guessed. "Sonic was shocked by one at the same time as I."

There was a pause.

"Well, I still think you did it." Sonic muttered.

Rouge waved a hand, deep in thought. "Wait, wait, wait. I think I have an idea." She turned to face the living hedgehog next to her. "Er, Mecha, what started the discharge?"

Sonic opened his mouth to angrily answer her question, but Mecha beat him to the punch. "It was an experimental tube in Dr. Robotnik's laboratory."

"What did it use as a power source?"

Mecha looked at her oddly, then understood her intent. "It ran off energy previously siphoned from the Chaos Emeralds."

Rouge's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You mean Robotnik's got the emeralds right now?!"

"Negative on that. We took the energy earlier, before the emeralds were reclaimed by Knuckles and taken back to his island." He gave Rouge an intense look. "Are you suggesting we ask him for help?"

"I'm not sure." Rouge admitted. "I know a lot about the emeralds, but I've never heard of anything like this happening before. It could work, I suppose."

Sonic hovered quietly. "So THAT's why he said he'd found a way..." He muttered softly. "He's probably gonna try to get Knux's help, too." He looked up at them, engine already prepped for take-off. "Then what are we waiting for? Knux'll help, he still owes me one for saving his tail after the ARK incident. Come on!"

"Grab hold," Rouge instructed, holding her arms out. Mecha nodded seriously and locked wrists with the bat, who slowly began to lift off the ground as she beat her wings furiously. Although she was distinctly weighed down more than usual, she still managed to get them airborne within a couple minutes. Sonic consulted his uplink to Robotnik's satellites and spotted Angel Island's familiar shape on one of the maps.

"Looks like we're in luck-the island's not too far away." He pointed in an easterly direction and began to fly that way, Rouge following him slowly so as not to drop her passenger.

Half a minute after the trio had taken off, a blob of darkness detached itself from a nearby alley. Two eyes gazed intently after the retreating dots for a long moment. "I guess Sonic's smarter than I give him credit for." Their owner mused before adding, "I sure hope they know what they're doing." 

Unseen, the shape darted away in pursuit of the three.

--------------------


	6. Chapter 6 Irritation

What If…Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?

A Fanfiction by Stoney, a.k.a. 'Stonewall', a.k.a. 'Mr. S', a.k.a. 'Why Are You Bothering To Read This When There's A Whole New Chapter Below For You To Read? Let's Just Hurry Up And Start The Fic Already, Eh?'

* * * * *

Chapter VI

Irritation

* * * * *

The lights and sounds of teleportation faded away, and Knuckles stepped off the crystal lens with a relieved sigh. Home at last.

Espio had arrived here the previous day, but he himself had been delayed when Bunnie had reported that she'd found one of his teleporters broken in the Great Forest. As it was, it had been far too long since he'd last seen his precious island. 

He scanned the area, satisfied as he confirmed that everything was the way he'd left it. Two seconds later, he was surrounded.

"THERE you are, Guardian." Mecha muttered, running up to him from his left.

"Knuckles! Good to see you!" Rouge grinned as she dropped in front of him from above.

"Hiya, Knux!" Sonic waved cheerily as he flew up from behind.

Knuckles suddenly found himself in the middle of a triangle of people with no way to escape, but that wasn't his main concern. He looked at Rouge, then Mecha, then Sonic.

He blinked, then did a double-take.

"Holy crap!" He yelped. Wasting no time, he dove towards Mecha and Rouge, pushing them out of the robot's line of fire. Landing in a tuck-and-roll, he stopped the motion on one knee, placed between the robot and the other two organics. He bared his teeth ferociously. "Look out, you guys!" He warned in a guttural growl. "Metal Sonic's here!"

For a few seconds Rouge lay frozen in the mud where she'd been pushed, not knowing whether to be shocked or enraged. 

She chose the latter. 

"Knuckles, you idiot!" She screamed, jumping up and smacking him hard across the face. Surprised, he reeled and fell over from the blow, staring up at her angry expression and fingering the stinging palm-print on his cheek. 

"HEY! What was that for?!" He demanded, temper rising.

Rouge was livid, face screwed up in a grimace of fury as dirty tendrils of mud slowly slid down her head, staining her fur an ugly brown. Mecha stood up and began to slowly inch away from her, not wanting to be around this time bomb when it exploded. 

"It's all right, stupid!" She yelled practically in Knuckles' face. "Mecha's on our side!!"

Knuckles blinked, looked at Sonic, blinked again, and looked back at Rouge. "Huh?"

Sonic frowned. He knew that normally he'd be cracking up at Knuckles' expense by now. The frown deepened, when he looked over at Mecha and saw him biting his lip to hold back laughter. But he himself didn't feel any amusement at all within him, and began to get a bit worried. Was there something wrong with his Emotional Flux Guidance Protocols? Had he hit his head one time too many while in Robotropolis? Did he have a virus? 

The last thought was especially alarming, so much so that he ran a quick scan of his system, just to be sure his files were clean. This, unfortunately, distracted him enough that he didn't notice Rouge getting ready to deliver another beating to the red Guardian.

Luckily, Mecha saved Knuckles from a particularly gruesome demise by stepping between him and Rouge at that moment. "Calm down," He warned her. "Have you already forgotten that we need his help? I'm afraid you are doing a rather poor job of asking him for it."

Knuckles instantly became a little suspicious, wondering what was going on and why the familiar blue hedgehog was speaking so strangely. "Hi Sonic, what are you talking about?" He asked, deciding to play it cool for now. 

The hedgehog turned to him. He didn't even smile, so serious was his expression. "You heard me, Guardian. We are in need of your assistance."  
  
Knuckles stood up, folded his arms and raised one thick eyebrow at Mecha's use of his title. This was making him more curious by the second. "Oh?"

"Mast--uh, Robotnik caught me yesterday. He performed an experiment on my person before I could escape--"

Knuckles' other eyebrow shot up to join the first. "An experiment? What kind?"

Mecha was about to reply, but he suddenly choked off his words in a grunt, eyes growing wide in sudden fear as he weakly clutched at his neck. Sonic's system registered an understanding of what was going on and activated its program for supplying emotion, producing chemicals in his body that caused him fear and anxiety. This caused a small reaction in his face that tightened a few of the muscle-cables around his glass eyes, causing them to widen.

"No.....!" Mecha moaned, staggering to the side as if he'd fall over from the weight of despair on his chest. "Oh Chaos, no.....no, no, no!"

"What?" Rouge asked, misinterpreting his body language as a reaction to pain. "What's wrong?"

"The experiment...was for a new bioweapon." Sonic answered for him, eyes wide with rage and terror. Mecha's computer brain had just supplied him with information on what the weapon's effects were. The idea of such results happening to his original body sickened and horrified him.

Rouge looked from Mecha to Sonic and back again. "Is this true?"

Mecha nodded weakly, bent over with his hands on his knees, head hanging. He felt like he might cry. Slowly he looked up to lock gazes with Rouge. "And now I've got it." He smiled bitterly in Sonic's direction. "Still want this body back?"

Knuckles' eyes were narrowed in thought. "What kind of weapon? What do you mean?"

"Nerve agent." Mecha explained dejectedly. "Destroys anything living by eliminating various tissues within the body and causing it to drown in its own fluids. It's slow-acting, but the effects are irreversible once they've started." He slumped to a sitting position, feeling oddly drained and exhausted suddenly. "It'll start by attacking the brain, sending the victim into a deep sleep to prevent any kind of struggle. Then it'll target the respiratory system, exploding air pockets within the lungs and filling them with blood. The digestive system will go next, as it'll eat away at the stomach wall and cause the natural hydrochloric acid we all contain there to finish the job. After that, it'll begin to literally dissolve the top layers of skin away and give the victim a blotchy red appearance. Finally, it'll break down major arteries and veins..."

"Stop." The command was little more than a whispered request coming from Rouge, who'd gone even paler than usual. "How long do you have?"

His stare was mournful, as if he was already beyond help. "A week, two at the most, before the symptoms begin."

Sonic's expression was grim. "We don't have much time, then."

Everybody looked up at him in surprise, an unspoken question in their expressions. "I just completed a wireless hook-up to Robotropolis' mainframe, and went through a batch of files on the bioweapon." He explained. "Robobutt apparently created an antidote for it in case he ever got infected." A cold smile appeared on his chrome face. "And lucky for us, he has."

"Do you know the antidote?" Mecha asked hopefully, even though his mind already knew the answer.

"No; he was overconfident and didn't believe he would need it at hand, so he never told anyone about it. As it is, he's retrieved a copy of the formula from his datakeeping section in the G-3 and has a batch being mixed up right now to use on himself."

Mecha leaped to his feet, but was stopped from doing something rash when Rouge placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Not now," She murmured through clenched teeth, giving him an intense glare that instantly halted his struggle to escape her grip. 

Knuckles stared at Sonic for several moments, an unreadable expression on his face. "There's something different about you," He said slowly. "It's like...I don't know, like you're a different person or something. I can feel it." He blinked in confusion for a second, then turned to Rouge. "What's going on?"

"Which brings us to the point of our visit," Rouge said. "We need to ask a favor of you."

"But you probably won't like it." Sonic added.

Knuckles' eyes darted between all three individuals. "Why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this?"

"We need to borrow the Chaos Emeralds." Mecha blurted out. "Some siphoned energy from them has done something drastic to Sonic and I, and we need them to fix it."

Knuckles gave him an odd look, and Rouge slapped her forehead. "What do you mean, 'Sonic and I'? YOU'RE Sonic!"

Mecha suddenly realized his mistake, but Sonic stepped forward to save him. "That's the problem." He replied. "I'm not really Mecha, and he's not really Sonic."

Knuckles blinked, face blank. Sonic hazarded on. 

"I'm Sonic, and Mecha--" He pointed at the hedgehog standing next to Knuckles, still trapped in Rouge's grip-- "is stuck inside my real body. We switched by accident."

Knuckles stared at the both of them. They waited tensely for his response. Finally he shrugged. "Oh, okay."

All three were taken aback. "Huh? You mean you're not surprised or anything?" Mecha exclaimed.

"Well, I just recognized why both of your aura's feel so different. They've switched bodies, like you said."

Rouge breathed a sigh and took her hand off Mecha's shoulder, who winced and rubbed it with his other hand. "Well, this makes things a whole lot easier. Do you think you could help us?"

Knuckles scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Well, uh, ya know, I'm actually not all that sure that the emeralds are available to use at the moment."

"Why not?! Listen to me, Guardian. This is crucial. I understand that those gems mean a lot to you, but it seems ridiculous to think that is it not possible for us to take them off your hands for a few hours, at the least."

"Sonic--I mean, Mecha--it's not because of that! The Master Emerald's power has been growing weaker lately; I need those emeralds now to help keep the island aloft!"

"What about the super emeralds?" Sonic asked quietly. "They held this place up when Robotnik took the Master away that one time. I was there. I helped charge 'em, remember?"

Knuckles' face was showing clear signs of stress that he'd been successfully hiding until now. "I know that, Sonic, but they've gotten weaker as well. It's like Chaos itself is going into remission, and taking all its energy with it. All of the emeralds have gotten so weak by now that some of them are temporarily going dead--including the Master. I just can't spare them at the moment, I'm sorry."

Sonic's electronic eyes brightened a couple watts as his emotional flux sent a slight surge of power through him, similar to a rush of excitement. "Wait, I think I've got a solution..." He exclaimed, opening his chest panel and pulling out the fake emerald. "...right here!"

For a split-second, Knuckles eyes went wide in shock as he saw what apparently was the Yellow Chaos Emerald, held in the hands of someone who had been a major enemy up until now. Protective instinct surged through him, and without thinking he yelled and lunged forward to attack. "You little thief--!" He roared. 

WHAM. Knuckles gasped and fell backwards, a steel-toed boot planted firmly under his ribs. He landed hard on his back, and before he could get up the boot had switched positions from his stomach to his neck, effectively pinning him. He looked up to see who'd attacked him, and stared into two mascara-laden eyes. 

"You know, I've wanted to do that to you for a LONG time now, Treasure Hunter." Rouge commented lightly, adding a bit of extra pressure on the echidna's jugular for emphasis. "I don't like repeating myself, but obviously you lot weren't listening carefully enough the first time. If you're calling somebody a thief, you'd better be talking to ME, understand? And furthermore, SONIC is in that body. HE. IS. ON. YOUR. SIDE. You know Sonic better than I do, so tell me; would he intentionally steal one of your beautiful emeralds for his own personal gain?"

Knuckles looked up at the bat's face, and the fiery rage drained from his body, leaving only fear behind. The bat's expression was calm and almost cheerful, but her eyes were hard and cold, revealing the masked anger underneath. He knew that one wrong move right now could very well mean his death. "Uh....."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Rouge asked sweetly, jabbing his neck with her toe. He nearly choked, but she quickly let up on the pressure enough for him to breathe again. He sucked in a massive breath, and spoke at last.

"All right. Fine. Whatever you say."

"MUCH better!" Rouge smirked, taking her foot off his neck and stepping away. "So, are you going to help us or not? We may have an emerald, but figuring out how to use it isn't my forte."

He looked at them all, gave a groan, and closed his eyes. "How do I get myself into these messes?"

"Gee, I don't know." Rouge chuckled. "Maybe it just comes with the territory."

Knuckles glared at her.

* * * * *

Antoine had always liked routines. There was always something reassuring, something comfortable about them that made him feel safe and secure. He always got up at the same time each morning, always fixed himself the same breakfast. He stuck to a rigid schedule that contented him with its planned-out events for the day, leaving no room for unknowns. 

He liked that. It seemed like those little certainties in life, the ones where you didn't have to worry about what happened next, were the only thing he figured Robotnik couldn't take from him. And thus, he was glad to have them.

That might be one of the reasons he and Sonic had never gotten along well; the hedgehog was spontaneity in its most condensed form. He was wild. Unpredictable. Uncertain.

And Antoine hated that.

Well, maybe 'hate' was too strong a word. The only thing Antoine would ever use the word 'hate' towards was Robotnik. That was another of those solid certainties in his life. Whereas, with Sonic…..it was more like 'disliked'. Or 'repulsed'. Or 'did not condone'. But no matter which word was used to describe his feelings towards the blue hedgehog's attitude, it was guaranteed that it would be negative one.

It was also the reason why he had liked Sally so much. Apart from himself, Sally was the most organized person he knew. Neat. Tidy. Certain. She seemed to like schedules as much as he, according to how often she stayed up late planning raids down to the smallest detail. He thought that would guarantee her affection for him, the fact that they were so much alike in that respect.

But as the saying goes, 'opposites attract'…..and it was apparent that she had fallen for Sonic long before Antoine had even entered the picture. But nevertheless, he still enjoyed the princess' company, because her neat, organized, scheduled nature was another of those certainties he loved so much.

But today, as Antoine watched Sally fly about in a mad rage, gathering supplies for a sudden, unprepared solo assault on Robotropolis, he realized that his assumption of her character might have been radically incorrect.

She was screaming.

Snarling invective, growling from deep in her throat, eyes flaming a dull red. All of her venom was voiced at Robotnik, although she did mention a few choice words about the fat human's mother every now and then.

"WHAT DID THAT BASTARD DO TO HIM?!" She bellowed. Antoine blanched. He had never thought Sally to be the type to 'bellow'. Apparently he knew her less than he thought.

"WHAT DID HE DO TO MY SONIC?!?" She bellowed again, slamming her fists down on a table and putting a crack in the wood. "I'LL KILL THE OAF WITH MY BARE HANDS WHEN I GET TO HIM!!"

Oh yes. That was something else he had to remind himself about as he silently watched her storm about the Knothole War Room, with him watching in shock from the doorway. She was doing all of this because of Sonic. 

To be more precise, it was the hedgehog's little panic episode earlier that had left Bunnie with an injured scalp and the Infirmary with a lovely hole in the wall. As soon as Sally had heard the news and learned who was responsible, her thoughts had immediately leaped to blame Robotnik. 

It must have seemed perfectly logical to her: Sonic had been captured by Robotnik, who had done something to him to make him act strangely. Therefore, the Overlander had to die slowly and violently while she watched. 

Antoine shook his head. This wouldn't do. He had to act, before things got out of hand. That is, if they weren't already…

"Prinzess!" He squeaked out at last. "You muzt calm down!"

Sally let out an inarticulate yell of rage, whirling to face him, teeth bared and eyes bulging. "Don't you DARE tell me what to do!" She snapped. "That—that MONSTER has done SOMETHING to Sonic, and I'm gonna go find out what!" She heaved a small backpack up onto her shoulders and stomped up in front of him, giving him a glare so full of misdirected hate that he winced.

After a few moments with no response Sally was forced to speak, biting a demand out through clenched teeth. "Let. Me. Through." Antoine gulped, screwed up his courage, and made a decision that could quite possibly have bad results in store for him.

"No."

Sally's mouth dropped open slightly, and her eyes grew wider. Then her former anger reasserted control. "LET ME THROUGH THE DOOR, DAMMIT!" She screamed in his face, a vein bulging in her forehead. Antione watched it throb a couple seconds before responding.

"Moi prinzez, 'ou are acteeng very irrational—"

"IRRATIONAL MY ASS!" Sally swore, stomping her foot in a very un-princesslike manner. "Listen buster, I am ROYALTY, and YOU are still under my command. That gives ME the right to have YOU do as I say. When I tell you to move, you DO IT! I'm ORDERING you to move, NOW! SO, STAND ASIDE!!!"

"Moi liege," Antoine began with a small smile that didn't reflect his inner terror, "you forget sectzion 45, paragraph eight of zee Acorn Monarchal Constitution, which clearly states in column two zat, 'under extreme circumstances where presiding liege ees seen unfit to 'is or 'er god-given service for self and country, command shall be taken up by zee 'ead of counsul in their stead.' 

Sally's jaw dropped again, but this time it stayed there. The anger in her eyes faded to be replaced by something else—fear. "You wouldn't," She exclaimed in a trembling voice, backing up a step. "You wouldn't dare…"

Antione's expression was hard and cold, though he remained sympathetic behind the stony exterior. It hurt to deny Sally like this, but if that's what it took to keep her safe, then so be it. "Prinzez, I did not want to do zees, but I hereby declare your actzions to be irregular, and you to not be in your proper state of mind. 'Enceforth until you again seem fit for them, I declare Annulment of your title and duties."

 "NO!" Sally screamed, anger reappearing as she dropped her bag and went into a battle stance, enraged mind forming excuses for her to do what she never would normally. "NO, I WON'T LET YOU! YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO KEEP ME FROM SONIC!!" She roared then, charging at him bodily, planning to fight him tooth-and nail to gain freedom. The coyote yelped in surprise and braced himself—

--and was shoved out of the way from behind, as an extending robotic arm grabbed Sally around the waist. "Now, that there's enuff'a that!" Bunnie growled, walking in and pinning Sally high up on the wall by her robot arm's grip. "Y'all kin jus' stay up thar 'till yuh get a grip!"

Shock and surprise wore off quickly, and soon Sally degenerated to another screaming fit, fists beating wildly on the hand around her but doing no damage.

Bunnie shook her head and sighed. "Hoo-boy, ah sure hope shugah-hog gets back soon."

* * * * *

Knuckles scowled. 

He did not like this one bit.

Time and time again, he'd argued his case. He was not a people person. Never had been. Staying cooped up on a remote island for most of your life tended to do that to you. Being around others made him edgy and nervous, which made it dangerous for them to drag him along. It was entirely possible he'd lash out in response to any provocation.

But the facts still remained clear, their logic silencing any argument he could create. 

They needed mechanics, two of them: Rotor Walrus, and Miles 'Tails' Prower. The reason was simple: Sonic had blueprints to a machine that could siphon Chaos energy. If they could build one and re-enact the scene that had taken place with that failed experiment, it was possible that he and Mecha could switch back. 

Unfortunately, this plan had reached a catch when Sonic, Mecha, and Rouge had arrived in Knothole, to find Rotor wasn't at his workshop. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

A heated argument had followed. Rouge just wanted to storm up to the nearest villager and demand the location of the fox and walrus, but Sonic requested they use more caution. It was pretty obvious that he would need to stay out of view—at least, until they were certain that the sight of Metal Sonic inside Knothole wouldn't cause mass panic amongst the villagers. Mecha had explained vaguely that he'd left the village without explanation a day earlier, and everyone would start asking the wrong kinds of questions if he were spotted. Rouge wasn't that well-known around here, which had left only one person available to do the investigating. 

So, they'd returned to the island to fetch him. 

Of course, he hadn't been too happy to hear this.

But after a bit of pleading on Rouge's part (he HATED it when she used the 'puppy-dog eyes' on him!), he'd agreed to be dragged down here.

"Ahem."

Bunnie whirled, just as Antoine unsheathed his sword. "Who goes zere! Oh—excuze-moi, monsieur Knuckles. I did not realize zat waz 'ou."

The echidna waved away the apology. "No time to talk guys, I need to know where your mechanic is."

Bunnie arched an eyebrow, while Antoine nodded. "Ah, 'ou mean monsieur Rotair? 'Ee is at zee rivair, I believe."

"Thanks." The guardian was gone without another word. Bunnie looked at Antoine, face a mask of confusion as Sally continued to struggle.

"What tha hoo-haw was that about?"

* * * * *

"All right guys, I think I know where he is." Knuckles declared, jogging up to the edge of Knothole where the Great Forest resumed its typical thickness. Within the flora was a robot, a hedgehog and a bat, the latter two of which stepped out to greet him.

"About time!" Mecha and Rouge exclaimed in unison, both equally impatient.

Sonic was a little bit calmer, remaining in the shadows between trees. Only the glow of his red eyes gave him away. "Where is he?"

"The river. Is there anywhere around there where you could hide?" 

Sonic considered this. "There's an empty hut near the bridge—the person living there left for another freedom fighter band down south."

"Perfect. You can stay there while I talk to the guy. Then, we'll get your fox friend and leave."

"Not too eager to stay, are you?" Rouge chided. "What's the matter? Scared you'll actually need some social skills?"

"Bite me, thief."

"Sorry, you're not my type."

"Cut it out." Sonic glared. "let's just get this done with." He looked around, then began to slip off silently. "Follow me—the river is this way."

Mecha snickered as they began to tail the sleek robot. Knux arched an eyebrow at him, and he grinned. "It strikes me as funny that HE, of all people, is the one who broke up that fight."

Knuckles thought about this for a moment and laughed, himself. "You're right. Normally Sonic's the one who starts the argument, not ends it."

"What's so funny?" Rouge demanded, slowing down to join their little discussion. Knux waved her off.

"Nothing you'd be interested in."

Rouge's gaze took on a dangerous glint that Mecha had seen before. He wondered for a moment if he should warn the Guardian.

"Do you think I'm not capable of understanding whatever it is you're talking about?" Rouge said, eyes narrowed. 

Mecha grinned. Naaaah, this was too much fun to watch.

"That's right!" Knuckles said brightly. 

"Oh good. It'd be bad if my understanding level was equal to that of one-celled algae."

Mecha couldn't help it. He laughed. Knuckles' expression darkened.

"Never mind. You don't have the brain capacity to appreciate fine humor, anyway."

"Even if I don't, at least my brain is bigger than yours."

Knuckles smirked. "Who says you've even GOT a brain? I think there's just a bunch of rocks rattling around in your skull."

"And yet I'm still smarter than you. Go figure."

Knuckles' brows came together in a frown as he tried to steer the topic to something else. "At least I don't have to resort to using my body to get what I want."

"Hey, this body's a gift. I'll use it however it pleases me."

"You have no shame, do you?"

Rouge grinned, showing her teeth. "Nope. Not an ounce."

Knux grinned as well, hitting upon a topic guaranteed to make the fruit bat angry. "Gee, those canines of yours sure are pointy. Do you keep them that way for sucking people's blood?"

The bat gasped, slowing down. Then rage settled in. Mecha would swear later that he saw the bat's eyes go crimson at that moment. 

"YOU!!" She screeched, throwing herself at the echidna in insane fury. Knuckles' eyes went wide, since he hadn't expected an attack. 

"Oh crap!" He yelped, ducking as Rouge soared overhead and smashed through some thick underbrush. Not one to waste a life-saving opportunity, Knux broke into a full-tilt run as the bat fought tooth and nail to free herself from the tangling plants that bound her. Her rapid stream of curses could be heard from quite a distance away, especially after she finally got untangled and began running.

"GET BACK HERE!!!"

Mecha was laughing so hard that he could barely walk, let alone run. Knux growled and punched him hard in the shoulder, eliciting a gasp of pain from the hedgehog. "Shut up and start moving," was the echidna's only comment. Mecha couldn't keep the grin off his face though. So what if that punch hurt? It was worth it.

Far ahead, Sonic was debating whether or not it'd be worth it to halt their journey and tell those three off. Chaos knows the whole village could probably hear the racket they were making. What's the point of being hidden if you let yourself be found?

His eyes flashed as another loud bellow of curses erupted from Rouge. "That's it." He muttered. "I've had enough of this." He slowed down…

* * * * *

"I am going to kill you _so _much." Knuckles snarled. "You know that, right?" 

He shifted about a bit, trying to get comfortable and failing. The cords around his wrists and ankles chafed him and bit into his skin, rubbing it raw. He couldn't help but notice that they were made out of some super-tough metal alloy that was too strong for him to break. He shifted again and winced. "Did you have to tie these things so tight?! I can't feel my fingers or toes!"

Rouge didn't say anything, speechless with rage as she was. Knuckles knew for certain that meant she was beyond anger at this point. After dealing with her during the ARK Incident and putting up with her for the months afterwards, he'd learned a thing or two about reading into her moods. And based on that knowledge, he knew that whenever Rouge got angry, she got loud.

But when she got _really _angry, she went quiet. 

That was usually the signal for anyone within striking distance to drop what they were doing and run for the hills, 'cause they wouldn't stay alive otherwise. Her face had turned a deep scarlet: a few cosmetic changes, and she would've looked identical to Knuckles. Sonic's life was now forfeit. That much was guaranteed, judging by her expression alone.

Mecha was still laughing, not minding this manhandling in the least. After all, this wasn't even his body. Why should he care if it got beaten up? He'd get switched out of it soon anyway.

Sonic glared back at them from a few feet ahead, where he'd grabbed the ends of the cords binding the three and was using it to drag the hogtied Mobians along behind him. There. _This _should teach them a thing or two about stealth.

Knuckles' head smacked into a rock, earning a stream of obscenities aimed at Sonic's family line three generations back. The robot smirked in sadistic glee, then checked himself. No. He shouldn't be enjoying this, he reminded himself. Hurting people was _wrong._ Wrong, wrong, wrong! But in this case, sadly necessary.

"Sorry Knux. Here, this'll get us there faster." He said, activating his rocket booster and hovering in the air. He began to gain altitude, pulling the three up until they were dangling by their limbs with their backs facing the ground.

Rouge's eyes narrowed to hungry slits. She bared her fangs and hissed, loud enough to make a chill run down the spines of the other two organics. Mecha looked at her, and gulped.

"By the Entities," He muttered. "Guardian, look at her. I think she's regressed."

Knux grimaced. Regression was bad news. He knew that under extreme stress, it was possible for a Mobian to revert to a wild, incoherent state: a state where they wouldn't be able to speak, or walk upright, and would act on instinct alone—just like an unevolved animal. If Rouge had regressed…

"We're in trouble," He stated flatly.

"Brilliant grasp of the obvious, Einstein." Mecha snorted.

"Stop it. Don't make me come over there."

"I'd like to see you try anything."

"Shut up!"

"Why? What are you gonna do, huh?"

"I'm gonna kill you all. Every last Entity-damned one of you!" The echidna raged. "Man, I think I'm gonna regress myself if this keeps up…"

"Don't worry. We're there." Sonic interrupted, landing gently so as not to injure them too much. He pulled out a gun and trained it on Knuckles' forehead before he allowed the cords around the echidna to snake back into a compartment on his wrists, where they'd originated from.

Knuckles rubbed his arms and legs, trying to get the blood flowing again and wondering how many pieces he should snap Sonic into. Damn that robot's foresight for getting the stupid gun out. He stood up. "You're dead." He declared emotionlessly. "I won't need to do anything to you. Rouge will do it for me." 

Indeed, the bat looked as if she'd enjoy such an act immensely. Her claws were extended, and she was drooling. Her teeth were in plain view, all nice and sharp.

Even as a robot, Sonic felt a twinge of fear at the sight. "Okay, we'll just leave her tied up, then."

"Wise move," Mecha muttered. "Can you untie me now?" The cords around his feet and hands snaked back into their resting place. "Thanks."

Sonic looked at him. "Well, you're not against me, at least."

Mecha snorted. "News flash, hedgehog. That's MY body you're occupying. Do you really think I would want to harm it?"

"Good point."

"And I'll kindly ask YOU not to hurt him." He spoke to Knuckles. "At least, until we've switched back. After that I don't care."

"GrrrrrrAAAAAARRRR," Rouge growled, trying to chew through her restraints. Knuckles looked nervously at her.

"This is gonna be a loooooong week, isn't it?"

"Not if we all get killed first," Mecha replied. "Anyway Guardian, it's your cue. Go get the mechanics, will you?"

"All right, all right." He grumbled. "I'm going already." 

* * * * *

"Rotor."  
  


The walrus glanced up. "Oh, hello Knuckles. What brings you down here?"

Knux approached cautiously. Rotor was kneeling next to some odd-shaped contraption on the riverbank. To be blunt, it looked like a big engine hooked up to a waterwheel.

The echidna's brow furrowed in curiosity. "You, actually."

Rotor blinked, and straightened up to face him. "What?"

"I need your help."

Rotor blinked again. "O-kaaay. For what?"

:"Well, I need someone to help me build something."

Two purple eyebrows shot up. "Really? What is it?"

"A machine to siphon Chaos Energy."

Rotor bent back down to tinker with the machine. "Huh, no kidding. For the island, right?"

"Something like that." Knuckles watched the walrus at work for a few minutes before he decided to speak up. "What're you doing over here, anyway?"

"Creating a new power source for the village." Rotor straightened back up, wiping his forehead. "Hydroelectricity."

Knux blinked. "Hydro-whatsis?"

"See that waterwheel? As the river turns it, it'll build up energy in this generator that we can use to power everything." He patted the bulky machine at this point. "We won't need to steal batteries from Robotropolis anymore if this works right."

Knux looked impressed. "That sounds quite useful."

"Yeah, but we won't be able to get much amperes out of something this small. In order to power all of Knothole, we'd need some heavy-duty equipment."

"Too bad. But anyway, about my request…"

Rotor gave him a sidelong look. "Sure. Count me in. When would be a good time for you?"

"Uh, right now, actually."

Rotor looked surprised. "What? NOW?"

"That's why I came down here: to get you and Tails."

"Tails too? Well, uh, gee, I've gotta ask Sally and all—"

"Actually, she seemed pretty busy from what I saw." Knuckles recalled seeing the princess being physically restrained by Bunnie, and shook his head. He wasn't even gonna _ask _what that was all about. "I know it's sudden, but this is _really _important."

Rotor looked worried. "You said it was for the island, right? I hear the Chaos Emeralds are getting weaker…?"

Knux nodded. "Yup."

Rotor stood up. "Okay. Let me go get the rest of my tools."

* * * * *

Tails, however, was a bit more difficult to retrieve.

When Knuckles arrived at his hut, he found the kid crying on his bed. He frowned. 'Argh, I don't have TIME for this!' His mind roared.

He hesitated. Comforting others was definitely not his forte: He had absolutely no idea what to do. So, he decided, he'd just try whatever came to mind. Let's see…he may as well ask the kid what this was all about, at least.

"Knock, knock." He spoke. Tails' head jerked up, and when he saw who it was he quickly wiped his eyes clean.

"Oh, hi Knux." He said glumly. "What're you doing off the Island?"

Knuckles strode further into the abode. "To tell you the truth, I need the help of a couple mechanics to build something for it."

Tails blinked, then sighed. He jumped off his bed and shook his head. "Sorry Knux, but I really don't feel like it now. I just found out that Sonic went crazy this morning because of something Robotnik did…" He scratched behind one ear and trailed off.

"And now, you're all depressed." Knux finished.

Tails sniffed. "Yeah."

Knuckles kneeled down next to the fox cub and put a massive hand on his shoulder. "Listen kid, what if I told you that I found Sonic, and he seemed perfectly fine to me?"

Tails' eyes, Knux would later swear, grew to the size of dinner plates at that point. "You FOUND him??"

Knuckles grinned, jerking one thumb to point over his shoulder. "Out in the woods on my way here. He's waiting for me out there 'cause he knew people would start asking questions if he entered the village."

Tails jerked upright, looking even more shocked—and beginning to perk up a bit. "He's STILL THERE?! Quick, where is he?? Please, take me to him!"

Knux paused, suddenly uncertain. "Um, well, I don't know…"

"Aw, c'mon, PLEASE! I'll help build whatever it is you need, I just wanna make sure Sonic's okay."

Knuckles sighed. "……Fine. If you insist."

Tails jumped for joy. "YAY!"

* * * * *

"HEY, SONIC!" Knuckles called out, walking through the Great Forest with Tails and Rotor. He turned his head this way and that, looking for any sign of blue amongst the greens of the forest. "SO-NIC! Where are you, man? Tails wants to talk to you!"

The fox peered around uncertainly. "Are you sure he's here?"

"This's where I told him to meet me," Knuckles grumbled. "I'm gonna kick his sorry butt if he skipped out…SOOOONIIIIIC!"

Blue. A flash of color in the shadow of a bush. Knux sighed. "There you are. Tails says he'll help me, but first he wants to talk to you." 

The hedgehog in the foliage kept very still, regarding Knuckles with an icy glare. Knuckles gave him a pointed, and slightly pleading look. 'Please, _please _just do this right,' His mind begged.

Mecha didn't move for several moments, but then he turned his gaze to the shorter fox and walked out of the shadows with a wave. "Hiya, little buddy!"

Tails ran up and tackled him, throwing them both to the ground. Then he punched the hedgehog hard in the shoulder. "Don't call me 'little'!" Then he hugged Mecha, who by now was flabbergasted. "Oh Sonic, I'm so glad you're okay! What happened? Bunnie got hurt, although she's up and walking around now, but the Medical Ward hut's a wreck."

"Uh, well…" Mecha squirmed out of the cub's grip and stood up. "I don't remember, actually."

Tails blinked. "You don't?"

Mecha gave a cocky grin that looked exactly like Sonic's usual one. "Nope. Not a thing. Last I recall, I was waking up in the forest with a mondo headache. Then this guy came by." He pointed a finger at Knuckles. "He warned me that everyone was makin' a big fuss and that I should steer clear, so I did."

Tails turned to glare at the echidna, who shrugged. Turning back to Mecha, he asked, "So then what happened?"

"Nothin' much. I just sat here and waited."

Rotor slapped Mecha on the shoulder. "It's good to see you're okay, buddy. We were pretty worried for awhile."

"Yeah, the kid was a regular basketcase when I got there," Knux chortled.

"I was not!" Tails defended himself angrily.

Knuckles put both hands up in a peaceful gesture, still chuckling. "Sure, sure, whatever you say." He turned to Mecha. "By the way, where's you-know-who?"

Mecha smirked. "Well, after she calmed down a bit, I untied her and she went off to search the forest high and low for blue robots."

Rotor frowned. "Blue robots? You mean like Metal Sonic?"

Mecha flinched a bit. "Uh, yeah. We—Knux and I—thought we saw him somewhere in the woods."

"Who's this 'she' you just said?" Tails asked suspiciously. "It isn't who I think it is, is it?"

"Well well well, if it isn't the foxboy!"

Tails clenched his eyes and teeth shut. "Oh no." he muttered.

Rouge stepped out of the trees, a wide smirk on her face. "My, I haven't seen you since that ARK Incident almost a year ago. So, how have you been doing? Anything happen that I should know about?" The smirk turned sinister. "Gotten any…_girlfriends_?"

No reply came. Tails stood rigid, fists clenched so tight that their knuckles were white underneath the gloves. Rouge's expression faltered a bit, and she edged forward. "Uh, hello? Foxboy? You-hooo, anybody home?"

"Don't…call…me…'FOXBOY'!!" Tails yelled, whirling to face the white bat with his face red from anger. "What are YOU doing here?! Go away!"

Knuckles looked pleased. "All right! Finally, someone who I can agree with!" He pumped a fist in victory.

Rouge gave him an unamused look, then turned to politely smile at Rotor. "Hello there, I don't think we've been properly introduced."

The walrus was staring wide-eyed at the bat, jaw slack. "Uh…yah…um…er…gah…" he stuttered, trying to form something coherent and failing.

"Rotor, Rouge. Rouge, Rotor." Mecha introduced the two. Rotor gave no reaction except to stand there stuttering like an idiot some more. Rouge gave a very, very wide smile upon seeing the walrus's reaction.

"Heh, thank you, 'Rotor'. I do believe you've just made my day." She giggled, sauntering over to tease Tails some more. Mecha snapped his fingers, then waved a hand in front of the walrus's eyes. No reaction. 

Finally, Mecha bonked him on the head. "Yo, Rote, wake up man!" 

That got the walrus moving, all right. Rotor jumped an looked around a bit, suddenly confused. "Wha-huh-what?" He sputtered, looking back and forth.

"SOONIIIIC!" Tails whined, finally reaching his limit with Rouge's provoking. "She won't leave me alone!"

"Join the club," Knuckles muttered. 

The fox angrily jabbed a finger in Rouge's direction. "You never answered my question, you know. What're you doing here, huh?!"

"Well, Knux and I found her out here all tied up," Mecha snickered. "Three guesses as to who did it."

Rouge nodded. "I'm gonna KILL that rotten jerk when I find him!" She snarled, flattening her ears against her head. Then she smiled toothily in Knuckles's direction. "But first, I think I'll tag along with you guys. Never know when a treasure hunter of my skill may come in handy." 

Tails and Knuckles frowned, while Mecha shrugged and Rotor nodded vigorously. "Okay," The hedgehog spoke. "We'll probably need your help to filch some parts from Robotropolis, anyway." He was suddenly subjected to twin glares from one fox and one echidna. "What? Look, we've gotta get parts for this thingamajiggy of Knux's from SOMEWHERE, right?"

Finally, Tails gave a begrudging nod. "Well, all right. If Sonic says it's okay, then…"

Knuckles just growled, turning to stomp away. Rouge followed at a smug trot, with Rotor quickly running up to walk beside her—while staring at her the whole time. Tails glumly followed them, while Mecha trailed at a distance.

It was because of this, that no-one but he heard a highly-amused, synthesized voice emit from the trees. "Gosh Mecha, I didn't know you could do such a good impression of me!" It taunted.

The organic hedgehog ground his teeth together. "Shut. Up. Just shut up."

A silent laugh was the only reply.

Stoney: ……And, I'm back.

Sonic: Where in the name of the Entities WERE you all this time?! Do you know how long I've been waiting to find out what happens?!?!

Stoney: Yes.

Sonic:…

Stoney: Truth is, I had to battle my way through an epidemic of Writer's Block. This story's ending is finished, but the middle portion isn't. I've been having difficulty finding ways to connect what I'm writing now with the already-finished ending, and it's slowed me down WAAAAY more than it should have. Bleh.

Shadow: Well, you'd better hurry it up. How come I didn't appear a single time in this chapter? And when are you going to write more of MY What If story? You're beginning to irritate me.

Stoney: Looks like I picked an appropriate chapter title, then.

Shadow: Ha ha. Answer me before I Chaos Spear you to an early grave. I mean it.

Stoney: The next chapter of your story is nearly done, geez! I'm just doing the finishing touches.

Sonic: Which, as we all well know, could take months.

Stoney: Ah, shut up.

Sonic: (looks at Shadow) Shall we?

Shadow: (Nods) With pleasure.

(They both jump Stoney at the same time, pin him down, hog-tie him, and drag him offscreen.)

Stoney: Hey! Ow! Where are you taking me? Let me go! OH NO! NOT THE CHEESE GRATER! PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THAT! NO, NOO, **NOOOOOOOOOOO!**

(Several loud crashing sounds are heard, then silence. Shadow and Sonic walk back onscreen, giving each other high-fives.)

Sonic: That was quite possibly the most satisfactory thing I've done yet. Besides saving the world, of course.

Shadow: Of course.

Sonic: Well, I'm off to my trailer. This script format sickens me.

(Shadow shrugs)

Shadow: I don't really care either way. See you at the barbeque later?

Sonic: Wouldn't miss it!

(They walk off in separate directions.)


End file.
